REDS Win Big At X
(ANTIGONISH, NS) Braeden MacPhee and Leighton Carruthers both had four-point nights to lead the UNB REDS in a 9-3 win over the STFX X-Men in Atlantic University Sport men's hockey action, Saturday night in Antigonish.
MacPhee scored a hat-trick and added an assist while Carruthers had a goal and three assists.
"Me and my linemates found success by playing simple and working hard and we got rewarded," said MacPhee.
He scored his first as part of UNB's four-goal second period. He added two more in the third.
Carruthers assisted on all three of MacPhee's goals and MacPhee's assist came on Carruthers' goal.
"After a hard week of practice, I think we put together two complete games this weekend," said MacPhee. "I think we showed what our team can do when we dig in and play a full sixty minutes."
"It's always nice to see a player like Braeden find the net," said REDS' head coach Rob Hennigar. "He's been a great addition and doesn't always get the accolades."
Cole Huckins, Peter Reynolds, Cody Morgan, Gage Heyes, and Mike Petizian also scored for UNB on Saturday, while Luca D'Amato registered three assists. Thomas Larouche and Stu Rolofs each had a pair of assists.
Liam Sztuska made 28 saves on 31 shots for the win in the UNB net.
Matt Cato, Domink Godin, and Charlie Callaghan scored for the X-Men, and Patrick Weaver surrendered nine goals on 50 UNB shots.
Saturday's big win followed Friday's 5-0 triumph at Dalhousie.
Luke Torrance scored twice in Friday's victory while Sztuska made 13 saves on 13 shots.
Heyes, Morgan, and Jax Dubois also scored for the REDS in Friday's win.
"It was a solid weekend and nice to find some offence from the group," said Coach Hennigar. "I thought Liam was rock solid in net and made timely saves. Our powerplay was a difference-maker as well."
With the weekend wins, the REDS are now 11-6-1-0 (W-L-OTL-SOL) and continue to hold on to third place in the AUS standings.
"Two big wins to finish off the first half of the season feels great going into the break," said MacPhee.
The REDS return to action on Saturday, January 3rd (2026) when they host the McGill Redbirds in the Peterbilt Atlantic Pete Kelly Cup. The exhibition game is scheduled for a 2:00pm start.
UNB resumes their AUS regular season on Friday, January 9th, when they welcome the UPEI Panthers to the Aitken Centre. Game time is 7:00pm.
STORY BY: Andy Campbell/UNB REDS
PHOTO BY: Bryan Kennedy/for STFX Athletics