Reds Beat Dal In Shootout

(FREDERICTON, NB) The U SPORTS No. 2 UNB Reds needed a shootout to beat the visiting Dalhousie Tigers 4-3, on Saturday night.

Alex Goulet (Disraeli, QC) and Matthew Boucher (Los Angeles, CA) scored shootout goals, and Samuel Harvey (Alma, QC) made two shootout saves to give UNB the win.

"I always do the same move I've done since pee wee, so I knew exactly what I was doing," said Goulet, who had an assist to go with his shootout goal and was named Subway Player of the Game. "We played pretty well. We outshot them, but their goalie played a solid game and gave us some trouble."

Mark Simpson (Rothesay, NB) opened the scoring mid-way through the first period.

His second goal of the season came from Goulet and Marcus McIvor (Whitby, ON).

Dal's Dillon Boucher (Head Chezzetcook, NS) got credit for a tying goal at 16:32 of the first. He fired a puck that struck Harvey and then hit a Reds defenceman and bounced into the net.

In the second period, the UNB offence appeared to move in waves into the Dal zone.

On one rush, Mark Rassell (Calgary, AB) beat Tigers goalie Connor Hicks (Kanata, ON) to give UNB a 2-1 lead.

Late in the second, with the Tigers working on the power-play, Andrew Shewfelt (Dartmouth, NS) was sprung on a breakaway. He beat Harvey to tie the game 2-2.

In a back and forth third period, the Reds had the majority of the opportunities.

Just past the 7:00 minute mark of the period, the Tigers did come close. Harvey was forced to scramble and make a spectacular save on the play.

Then, with UNB on the power-play, and with just 5:56 to play, Patrick Watling (Sault Ste. Marie, ON) corralled a rebound in front of Hicks and shovelled it home to put the Reds up 3-2.

"Our power-play was working pretty good all night, we just had to stick with it," said Watling. "We moved it around a bit, It came out to us. The chance came to me and I just put it in the back of the net."

With Hicks on the bench and the Tigers net empty, Shewfelt scored his second of the game with just 47 seconds to play. He fired a shot over Harvey's shoulder to force overtime.

Again, the Reds had plenty of chances in OT, but Hicks was the difference.

"We've had some great games here in the last couple of years, so we come in and expect to win. It wasn't on our side today, but it was a good game," said Hicks.

In the shootout, UNB scored on two attempts, while Dal was stopped on two.

"Any goalie who puts aside 50 of 53 shots deserves a pat on the back," said Watling.

"Our goaltender allowed us to hang around and have a chance to win, so the point is big," said Tigers head coach Chris Donnelly. "He's a very talented goaltender. He competes, that's his number one quality, he's a competitor. He never gives up on a play and I think you saw that tonight."

The Tigers, now 2-4-2, return home and will host Moncton next Friday.

The Reds, who improve to 5-1, head to Antigonish on Friday to face St FX.

RECAP BY: Andy Campbell/UNB Athletics

PHOTOS BY: James West/for UNB Athletics