The game was projected to be a statement game, and it
delivered, as the V-Reds were determined to make up for their 3-2 loss to the
Axemen in Wolfville in November, while Acadia was hoping to not only continue
the momentum from their road win the night before against UPEI, but prove that
they deserve to be considered a threat for the AUS championship.
The first period saw UNB have the clear edge in territorial
play as they outshot Acadia 12-4, but neither team could score and each came up
short on their single power play opportunity. The best scoring chance for
either team came early in the period when Ryan Graham (Mount Pearl, NF) had a
shorthanded breakaway and Yeomans made the initial save only to see the puck
trickle through his pads. Fortunately for UNB it was stopped by defenceman Luke
Gallant (Bedford, NS) before it could cross the goal line. At the other end of
the ice Kris Westblom (Meadow Lake, SK) made key saves in the period off
Gallant at the end of a good passing play and he later came up big on a
one-timer delivered by Lachlan MacIntosh (Perth Andover, NB).
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Photo Courtesy Brian Smith |
The first goal of the game came at 11:36 when UNB defenceman
Jonathan Harty (Oromocto, NB) went to the net with speed and knocked in a
rebound, and then got into a pushing and shoving match before he could
celebrate the goal. Less than two minutes later Firlotte was called for
boarding for a big hit on Kidd, and the UNB power play went to work. Hunter
Tremblay (Timmins, ON) made a nice pass to Chris Culligan (Howie Center, NS) in
the slot who fired the puck past Westblom at 14:00 to put UNB up 2-0. In the
last minute of the period V-Reds defenceman Ben Wright (Foremost, AB) drove the
net with Tremblay, who scored on the play, and Wright plowed into Axeman Paul
Kurceba (Calgary, AB), who took exception, and the two defencemen dropped the
gloves and had a spirited fight in the crease before the officials jumped in.
Both Wright and Kurceba were ejected from the game and they will be automatically
suspended for another game. Wright also got an extra minor for the original hit
on Kurceba, so Acadia went on the power play after giving up the goal. However
the Axeman didn't take advantage, and worse, Bailey and Nick MacNeil
(Creignish, NS) combined to score a shorthanded goal with just 8 seconds to go
in the period. So UNB came away with four goals in the period despite being
outshot 13-10.
Acadia head coach Darren Burns opted to put Michael Chiasson
(Cole Harbour, NS) in the Axemen net to start the third period. Chiasson was
doing well until 4:54 when Nick Layton (Salisbury, NB) entered the Acadia zone
with speed and ripped a high shot from the top of the circle that blew by the
goaltender and sent his water bottle spinning into the air. Less than two
minutes later Culligan was behind the Acadia net and passed the puck to
Tremblay out front in the slot, and his one-timer made it 6-0 for UNB. The
third period had been significantly less edgy until the 10:18 mark, when a
scrum broke out in front of the V-Reds net as some Acadia players kept battling
in the crease after Yeomans gloved the puck. The pushing and shoving continued
as the players paired off in the UNB zone. Fans howled when Tremblay, who was
tied up with Chris Bruton (Calgary, AB) along the boards, took several punches
to the face while just trying to hold onto his stick. After the players finally
calmed down and the officials regained control, four V-Reds (Jordan
Clendenning, Harty, Tremblay and Matt Fillier) and four Axemen (Graham, Jonathan
Laberge, Bruton and Ward) were given 10-minute misconducts and all but Ward
were also assessed minor penalties for roughing. After the penalties were
announced the eight combatants were sent to their dressing rooms, creating a
lot more room on the team benches.
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Photo Courtesy Brian Smith |
Even though they lost handly, Burns thought his team played
pretty well all game, and he thought the second period power plays were the
turning point. “They've got some guys who buried, and we were pretty snake
bitten around the net ... they've got some guys who sniped at opportune times.”
He added, “I thought we had some fantastic chances tonight, and we didn't score
any goals.” Burns wouldn't comment on the officiating as he believes “it takes
away from two teams who worked hard.”
UNB captain Bailey, sporting several facial contusions as a
result of the weekend's play, was almost relishing the battle scars and played
down the two hits to the head he received. “Teams are very close this year. The
physicality is going to get ramped up earlier ... the games are close, they're
intense, you couldn't ask for anything better.” D-man Harty wasn't surprised by
the physical tone of the game. “They're a very tough team, and like to play
physical. So do we, and we went toe to toe out there.”
With the win, the V-Reds maintain their hold on first place
in the AUS standings and they are now 13-4-0 in conference play. Next weekend
UNB will be in Moncton on Friday night to play les Aigles Bleus and they will
be back home Saturday night to host the UPEI Panthers.
2 comments:
I've always felt Yeomans plays much better the more action he sees and that may have been one of the best games I've seen him play at UNB....especially considering how many times the 'D' hung him out to dry with all the odd man rushes they gave up.
Yeah Yeomans was great in this one. If he didn't make a few great saves, Acadia could have easily been up at least 2-0 at the halfway point, gone into a defensive shell and the outcome could have been very different. Great game Derek.
P.S. What an awesome picture of the waterbottle shot goal!
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