Top-ranked REDS defeat Huskies 5-4 in Fredericton

FREDERICTON, NB - The U SPORTS #1 ranked UNB REDS scored four goals in the first period to defeat the Saint Mary's Huskies 5-4 in Atlantic University Sport men's hockey action on Saturday night, at UNB's Aitken Centre.

Brady Gilmour (Grafton, ON) and Austen Keating (Guelph, ON) each scored a goal and added an assist as the REDS staved off a Huskies rally to remain undefeated. Gilmour was named Tim Horton's Player of the Game.

Ben Allison (Halifax, NS) netted two goals for the Huskies, as they battled back from an early deficit, coming close to equalizing the game in the late stages.

The REDS continued their streak of strong first periods.

Keating gave UNB a 1-0 lead when he scored at 4:20 of the first period. He was able sneak past the Saint Mary's defence and snipe one over the blocker of Jeremy Helvig (Kingston, ON) from the left face-off circle.

Kade Landry (Gowanstown, ON) made it 2-0 at 11:43 when he put home a loose puck in front of the net.

Then Gilmour pushed the UNB lead to 3-0 at 14:53 as he was able to wait out Helvig and sneak the puck around the Saint Mary's goaltender.

Helvig allowed three goals on 12 shots before being pulled after the Gilmour goal. Matt Welsh (Halifax, NS) replaced Helvig and made 21 saves in the final 43:45.

Emmet Sproule (Collingwood, ON) capped off the REDS dominant first period when he was sent in alone and was able to beat Welsh five hole to make it 4-0 UNB.

HUSKIES HIGHLIGHTS ��

Ben Allison stays hot for the Huskies! His team leading seventh goal of the night comes off a beautiful passing play on the powerplay, cutting the lead to 4-1 @SMUMensHockey

��B. Allison (7)
��R. Valade
��B. Roger pic.twitter.com/rdrWMrMrnI

— Saint Mary's Huskies (@SMUHuskies) November 19, 2023

The Huskies showed their resilience, scoring back-to-back powerplay goals just two minutes apart early in the second period to cut UNB's lead to 4-2, the goals coming from Allison and Jaxon Bellamy (Hampton, NB).

HUSKIES HIGHLIGHTS ��

Another powerplay goal for the Huskies as Jaxon Bellamy finishes it off with a one-timer to cut the lead to 4-2 in the second period! @SMUMensHockey

��J. Bellamy (3)
��D. Busby pic.twitter.com/HvppRDYknr

— Saint Mary's Huskies (@SMUHuskies) November 19, 2023

The REDS increased their lead at 11:20 thanks to Jason Willms (Kitchener, ON). He was able to tap home a loose puck off a point shot from Kale McCallum (Rothesay, NB) that was bobbled by Welsh making it 5-2 UNB.

Just a minute later though, Cedric Ralph (Peterborough, ON) responded for Saint Mary's putting home a rebound off a shot from Bellamy to make it a 5-3 game.

HUSKIES HIGHLIGHTS ��

Cedric Ralph scores the Huskies third goal of the second period, cutting the lead to 5-3! @SMUMensHockey

��C. Ralph (2)
��W. Flower III
��J. Bellamy pic.twitter.com/dQDuZsNeTq

— Saint Mary's Huskies (@SMUHuskies) November 19, 2023

UNB held the 5-3 lead heading into the third period.

Allison's second, at 7:17 of the third period, made things interesting, cutting the UNB lead to just one. He was able to take advantage of a puck that deflected in front to him and put it past Samuel Richard (Ste. Catherine, QC) to make it 5-4.

HUSKIES HIGHLIGHTS ��

Ben Allison scores his second of the night, cutting the REDS lead to 5-4 midway through the third period. @SMUMensHockey

��B. Allison (8)
��D. Busby
��J. Bellamy pic.twitter.com/AAZdKeFRcw

— Saint Mary's Huskies (@SMUHuskies) November 19, 2023

That was as close as the Huskies would get as the REDS were able to hold of Saint Mary's for the rest of the third period to take the win.

At 6-9-0-0 (W-L-OTL-SOL), the Huskies sit in fourth place in the AUS standings. They'll take on Dalhousie next Friday at the Halifax Forum, before returning to the Dauphinee Centre to host the STFX X-Men on Saturday night, with both games scheduled to drop the puck at 7 p.m. GET TICKETS

The REDS, now 15-0-0-0, return to action Friday as well. UNB hosts the UPEI Panthers at 7 p.m. in their annual Teddy Bear Toss Game.

RECAP BY: Evan Richtsfeld/UNB Athletics
PHOTOS BY: James West/for UNB Athletics