Sumarah’s strong debut leads Huskies to 4-1 victory over Aigles Bleus

HALIFAX, NS - First-year goalie Justin Sumarah (Halifax, NS) made 28 saves in his AUS debut leading the Huskies to a 4-1 win over the Moncton Aigles Bleus Friday night at the Dauphinee Centre.

Both the Huskies and Aigles Bleus entered Friday's game hungry for a win, as they each looked to snap losing streaks. The game looked evenly matched early, as the first five minutes of the game featured a powerplay goal by each side.

Good offensive zone time by the Huskies resulted in a hooking penalty by Moncton's Gabriel Vanier. The home side would make quick work of their man advantage as Andrew Coxhead (Bedford, NS) banged home the rebound from the side of the net after Cedric Ralph's (Peterborough, ON) shot took a couple deflections en route to the goal.

The lead wouldn't last long as the Huskies took a penalty on the very next play. The Aigles Bleus would tie the game on their powerplay opportunity after Yann-Felix Lapointe found himself in prime position at the top of the slot and fired a quick shot glove side past Sumarah.

A high sticking infraction by Walter Flower (Lunenburg, NS) just before the midway mark of the frame put Moncton back on the powerplay but the Huskies calmly killed off the penalty. 

Just a couple minutes later Flower would put himself on the right side of the scoresheet. His shot from the blueline was going wide of the net but bounced off a Moncton defender and fell past Emile Samson to restore the Huskies lead.

Saint Mary's led 2-1 at the first intermission and held the 12-11 shot advantage.

The home team came out of the intermission with lots of energy and almost capitalized on multiple early chances. They tried cross ice one-timers on back-to-back odd man rushes but couldn't beat Samson.

SMU found themselves once again on the powerplay and almost extended their lead when Coxhead rattled his rebound chance off the post. Seconds later Michael Cyr had a shorthanded breakaway for the Aigles Bleus but fired the shot wide.

The penalties kept piling up and this time Moncton had a great chance to tie the game. During the penalty kill two SMU players had their sticks knocked out of their hands and were unable to retrieve them. The visiting team held control of play for a full minute but couldn't find a good shooting lane. Finally, an errant shot looped around the boards and cleared the zone giving Huskies players the chance to change.

With just over three minutes left in the second frame the home team was pressing again. Coxhead sent a pass across the crease to Justin MacPherson (Newmarket, ON) who fired a shot that bounced off the outside of the net. He retrieved the loose puck and passed it to Nathan Dunkley (Campbellford, ON) who launched a slap shot into the open net as the Moncton netminder Samson was struggling to get back into position.

Saint Mary's took the 3-1 lead and 25-21 shot advantage into the second intermission.

The Huskies once again came out strong to start the period and extended their lead to 4-1 when Logan DeNoble (Peterborough, ON) charged the loose puck from the top of the circle and fired a quick snapshot that squeaked under the arm of Samson.

Later in the period Huskies goalie Sumarah made his nicest stop of the game when he slid across the crease to make a great pas save on a Moncton two-on-one.

Sumarah held strong the rest of the way as he earned a win in his AUS debut leading the Huskies to the 4-1 victory.

Huskies forward Nathan Dunkley was named first star, with one goal and two assists. Andrew Coxhead added one goal and two assist, and defenceman Justin MacPherson chipped in two assists for the Huskies. 

The loss drops the Aigles Bleus to 5-14-2. They travel to Wolfville on Saturday to take on Acadia Axemen at 7 p.m.

The win ended the Huskies six-game losing streak and improved their record to 8-11-2. They'll have a tough matchup on Saturday night, when they take on the U SPORTS #1 ranked UNB REDS at 7 p.m. at the Dauphinee Centre. 

Recap: Troy Langstaff / SMU Huskies Athletics
Photos: Nick Pearce / SMU Huskies Athletics