Reds defeat X-Men 5-1
The Reds dominated the early stages of the first period and the X-Men showed their frustration by taking a number of undisciplined penalties. The Reds capitalized on their two-man advantage with a nice series of passes that ended with Stephen Anderson (Morell, PE) scoring. Chris Clapperton (Cap D'Espoir, QC) and Olivier LeBlanc (Quebec City, QC) drew the assists.
The Reds continued to apply pressure to the X-Men with the UNB defensive corps holding firm at the red line, forcing X to chip and chase, which led to the Reds launching a purposeful counter-attacks and forcing X-Men netminder Blade Mann-Dixon (Antigonish, NS) to be sharp.
StFX were not without their chances, with William Bower (Saint John, NB), effective all evening on the penalty-kill, making a great pass to Nathan Pancel (Ottawa, ON) who made Rylan Parenteau (Saskatoon, SK) make his first of his timely saves on the evening.
The Reds responded with a great rush of their own and another Mann-Dixon save. The end of the play resulted in another UNB power-play with Anthony DiFruscia (Thorold, ON) receiving a four-minute penalty for butt-ending.
The Reds, once again, were awarded another five-on-three when, on the rush, Cole MacDonald (Wetaskiwin, AB) stick was caught up in an awkward position, and he received a high-sticking penalty. The Reds used their slick passing to set up a point shot from Tyler Boland (St John's, NL) and Stephen Anderson deposited the rebound into the open net. Kris Bennett (Brampton, ON) drew the second assist.
The X-Men began to pick up the pace and ended the period with a power-play and a nice play by Matthew Graham (Bedford, NS) and MacDonald led to a quality scoring chance for StFX, but Parenteau was again solid.
The second period was a penalty-filled affair but with no change to the score. The X-Men, for the most part, were able to keep pace with the speed of the Reds, which led to a few power-play opportunities.
StFX did have the first good scoring chance of the period when Matt Needham (Penticton, BC) hit the post off the rush. StFX's efficient play led to the first power-play of the period. While X were able to move the puck well, it was UNB's Tristan Pomerleau (Riviere-du-Loup, PQ) who made a great rush and forced Mann-Dixon to make a great save. Later, while shorthanded, Olivier Cooper (Fredericton, NB) intercepted the puck in the neutral zone and made a great pass to Samuel Dove-McFalls (Montreal, PQ) who rang a shot off the crossbar.
UNB opened the third period with their third goal of the game off a nifty move by Mark Simpson (Rothesay, NB) who scored off a great blinded backhanded puck into the top corner with the assist going to veteran Cam Brace (Etobicoke, ON).
Brace gave UNB a 4-0 lead off a special milestone goal. The scoring play began with a great break-out pass by Randy Gazzola (Thorold, ON) and the Reds streaked down the ice to establish themselves in the StFX zone with a series of short crisp passes. Clapperton made a centring pass to Brace, who showed great patience with the puck as he put his shot past Mann-Dixon. The goal marked Brace's 100th career point.
StFX's penalty killers were their top performers on the evening, so it was fitting that their lone goal of the evening came while they were short-handed. Mark Tremaine (Dartmouth, NS) rushed down the ice and found the streaking Sam Studnicka (Windsor, ON) in front for a nice tip-in goal.
The final goal of the evening came off a UNB face-off win in the StFX zone. Rookie Mark Rassell (Calgary, AB) capitalized on a rebound chance and found the back of the net. Fellow rookie, Samuel Dove-McFalls (Montreal, QC) and Anderson, picked up the assists on the marker.
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Courtesy Bart Sears, StFX Communications