George Reaches Milestone As REDS Blank Tigers
(FREDERICTON, NB) It was a night to remember for the UNB REDS as Lillian George (Nipissing First Nation) scored a goal and an assist, reaching her 100th point in her regular season Atlantic University Sport career, helping her team to a 4-0 victory over the Dalhousie Tigers on Saturday night at UNB's Aitken Centre.
"It's a great accomplishment for myself," said George. "It's great to be able to see all of the work I've put in over the past six years lead to something great and I'm really happy about that."
Mackenzie Keenan (Midhurst, ON), Rylee Strohm (Kingsville, ON), and Lauren O'Neil (Osgoode, ON) also scored for the REDS, while Kendra Woodland (Kamloops, BC) turned aside 27 shots for her third shutout of the year.
"I thought we came out strong today," said Woodland. "I think we built off the first period and kept going today. It was a complete team effort and was really good to see."
Woodland was named Tim Horton's Player of the Game.
After a scoreless first period, Keenan put the REDS on the board first. She blasted a shot from the point past a screened Grace Beer (Oakville, ON) at 10:49 of the second period to give UNB the 1-0 advantage.
Five minutes later, Strohm added to the UNB lead on the power play. Her cross-seam pass attempt was initially blocked, but Strohm was able to corral the loose puck and beat Beer to make it 2-0 REDS.
George netted her milestone 100th point at 9:20 of the third period. She was able to throw the puck on net, and it bounced to her in front as she raced behind the net and tapped it in to make it 3-0 UNB.
"I was just looking for an open body out front," said George. "Luckily it came out on the other side and I was able to poke it back in the net."
Her goal also moved George into a tie for 27th on the AUS all-time scoring list.
O'Neil put the REDS up 4-0 just 30 seconds later, firing home a shot from the point past Beer to seal the 4-0 shutout win.
The REDS will be back in action on Saturday, taking on St. Thomas at the Grant-Harvey Centre. Puck drop is set for 7:00pm.
"I think there were some big moments for us today where we bent but didn't break," said Woodland. "I think being hemmed in our zone for four minutes was huge for our team in a sense of adversity so just taking that grit into tomorrow is going to be huge for us playing a team like STU."
Meanwhile, the Tigers will be on the road in Charlottetown on Saturday, facing off against the UPEI Panthers at 7:00pm, their final regular season game.
RECAP BY: Evan Richtsfeld/ UNB Athletics
PHOTOS BY: Fran Harris/ for UNB Athletics