Reds And Tommies Need 2OT To Decide Exhibition

(FREDERICTON, NB) Not many exhibition games go to overtime, and then double-overtime, but don’t tell that to the UNB REDS and St. Thomas Tommies.

The Atlantic University Sport rivals needed extra time to decide Saturday’s exhibition game, the first game in more than a year for both teams.

“We were all super tired at the end, so it was great to end the game on a high note,” said Marley Van Den Oetelaar, the REDS second-year defender who provided the overtime winner for UNB. “It was a bit awkward at first, to be finally playing after so long, but I think we got the nerves out after the first few minutes. It was really fun to go out and play a real game again, it felt nice to be rewarded for all the hard work we’ve been putting in at practice.”

A game that needs double-overtime to decide, obviously, was a back-and-forth affair.

Both teams displayed offensive pressure, solid defence, and good goaltending.

There were mistakes, by both teams, but that’s to be expected considering the pandemic-forced layoff both teams have endured.

The 2020-21 AUS regular season and playoffs were cancelled due to COVID-19, but both teams have continued to train, sometimes under significant restrictions due to public health directives.

New Brunswick’s recent return to the Yellow Phase of recovery has allowed for competition, and the fact the REDS and Tommies are campus neighbours made this exhibition game an easy fit.

“I thought the girls did well,” said Tommies head coach Peter Murphy. “I thought we were good for not having had a game in a long time, and rookies coming in and being very nervous. I was pleased with what I saw. We were rolling lines the whole game. We just wanted to see what people could do.”

Murphy says, despite learning of this game earlier in the week, his team wasn’t sure it would actually happen.

“They weren’t excited all week, they just figured that it wasn’t going to happen, because we’ve been so close so many times,” he said. “But when they showed up today to pack their gear to come over, that’s when they showed their excitement. They just didn’t want to get themselves up again and then have it all crash down.”

“These girls have been coming here three or four times a week and practicing hard and working out in the gym, they’ve been doing everything they possibly can just to get a bite at a game, just the opportunity,” said REDS head coach Sarah Hilworth. “When you get a chance to play a good team, you want them to respect you. We wanted to bring a game that would be a really respectable game, and bring it to them right away, and we wanted to see how our intensity could match theirs, because that’s their game, and I thought they did a good job on their end and that it was just a good, fun hockey game, which, at the end of the day, is what everyone wanted to see.”

And, it was an exciting game, that needed almost ten extra minutes to decide.

The two teams return to practice in the days ahead and will prepare for a potential re-match, conditions permitting, next weekend.

RECAP AND PHOTOS BY: Andy Campbell/UNB Athletics