Antigonish, NS – The U SPORTS No. 1 ranked UNB Reds defeated the No. 10 StFX X-Men by a 5-1 margin Friday night at the Charles V. Keating Centre, following up on another decisive win over the same StFX squad. The Reds won 8-1 last weekend in Fredericton.
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Tonight's game saw the X-Men get into early first period penalty trouble and the visiting Reds made them pay as Stephen Anderson (Morell, PE) netted two power play goals in the opening 10 minutes of play in the game.
The 2-0 scoreline stood after 20 minutes as the teams set a physical tone early on with several minor penalties.
The second period brought more infractions but the X-Men were unable to generate any significant scoring chances while on the man advantage.
Shots favored the Reds at 20-10 after 40 minutes of play as both teams were held scoreless in the middle period.
Mark Simpson (Rothesay, NB) increased the Reds lead to 3-0 just over a minute into the third period on a nifty backhander he directly blindly into the open StFX net off a UNB rush up ice.
Veteran fifth year forward Cam Brace's (Etobicoke, ON) goal at 7:48 of the period was a significant one as it marked his 100th AUS career point as his Reds pulled further ahead in the game.
The X-Men finally cracked the goose egg as Mark Tremaine (Dartmouth, NS) connected with Sam Studnicka (Windsor, ON) while short-handed on an odd-man rush up ice, scoring the only goal that would beat Rylan Parenteau (Saskatoon, SK) all evening in the Reds net.
With no love lost between the two squads, both teams continued the undisciplined play and exchange of penalties resulting in 46 minutes assessed in the final period alone. It culminated in a fight between StFX's Anthony Difruscia (Thorold, ON) and UNB's Matt Boudens (Pembroke, ON) as both were sent off with game misconducts and Difruscia drawing the instigator calls.
UNB rounded out the scoring in the game with a Mark Rassell (Calgary, AB) goal with six and a half minutes left to go.
The Reds held the X-Men to only two shots in the final period as they held a 29-12 advantage in the game. Parenteau picked up his seventh win of the season for UNB.
Freshman netminder Blade Mann-Dixon (Antigonish, NS) was tagged with the loss in the StFX net.
With a three-point night, UNB's Anderson took home first star and Subway Player of the Game honours. Reds forward Rassell was the second star and X-Men forward Studnicka the third star.
The X-Men look to regroup as they hit the ice again tomorrow night at home against the UPEI Panthers. The Reds travel to Halifax to take on Dalhousie. Both games are 7:00 pm.
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