UNB Varsity Reds extend winning streak to 15

FREDERICTON – The last game of the first half of the AUS men's hockey season went into bonus time before the UNB Varsity Reds won their fifteenth straight victory 2-1 over the visiting Saint Mary's Huskies. It is not only a record start for the V-Reds, but their longest winning streak during an AUS (or AUAA) regular season. (Although technically the 1983-84 Red Devils had an 11 game winning streak turn into a 15 game winning streak after the end of the regular season after Saint Mary's had to forfeit two wins for using an ineligible player).

This was the first visit by the Huskies to the Aitken University Centre since they won the AUS championship back in March. When the puck dropped, SMU came out flying and set a tone for the night, as they did a good job clogging up the neutral zone, blocking the lanes, and continuously counterattacking the V-Reds. The game was originally supposed to be held Halloween night and was rescheduled due to H1N1 concerns with the Huskies team, and it became a bit of a horror story on the first SMU power play at 5:37 when Colby Pridham's (Alberton, PE) wrist shot from the top of the circle appeared to fool Travis Fullerton (Riverivew, NB), as it beat him under the arm for the goal. UNB had a difficult time getting uncorked for most of the period, and worse, at 18:23 Lachlan MacIntosh (Perth-Andover, NB) was called for checking from behind and tossed from the game. With five seconds to go in the period Hunter Tremblay nearly won a race for a loose puck but rookie Huskies netminder Neil Conway (Concord, ON) beat him with a desperate but effective poke check. SMU outshot UNB 8-5 in the first 20 minutes.

The second period wasn't an easy one for the UNB fans, as Saint Mary's kept the game close just like it was a playoff game. Tight checking led to only nine shots for each team in the period, but no scoring.

With MacIntosh gone, Dion Campbell (Melville, SK) took his place on the Kyle Bailey (Ponoka, AB) line, and he appeared to click well with his new linemates. Just 60 seconds into the third period, Campbell outskated his SMU opponent to a loose puck at the UNB blue line, raced down the right side of the ice and then passed over to a rushing Jeff Lee (Calgary, AB) who snapped the puck into the open left side of the net.

This was Lee's first goal as a Varsity Red, in only his fourth game on the ice with the team. What could have been a turning point in the game came at 13:33 of the third, when SMU's Cam Fergus (Brantford, ON) received a double-minor for spearing Luke Gallant (Bedford, NS) at the UNB crease. The Huskies did a good job on the penalty kill, limiting the V-Reds to only a couple of scoring chances. The final minutes of regulation time saw the Huskies just hanging on as the V-Reds pressed for the game winner. UNB outshot SMU 12-8 in the third period.

The four-on-four overtime period didn't last long as 54 second into extra time Hunter Tremblay feathered a pass to rookie Chris Culligan (Howie Center, NS) who one-timed the

puck across the slot and just inside the far post for the winning goal. The final

shots in the game were even at 27 apiece. SMU was 1-for-3 on the power play while UNB was 0-for-3. It is UNB's fourth win in overtime this season. The Varsity Reds will now break for the exam period and their next game will on December 29 when they host the University of Toronto Blues in the annual UNB Pete Kelly Cup tournament.

by David Kilfoil for UNB Athletic