The University of New Brunswick Varsity Reds cruised to a 4-0 win over the host Saint Mary’s University Huskies on March 19 at the Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) University Cup semifinals.
“Any time you can go into a third period at nationals and allow zero shots against, you’re going to have a recipe for success,” said Reds head coach Gardiner MacDougall.
Christopher Clapperton opened the scoring for the Reds just under four minutes into the game.
The Huskies nearly answered on their first power play of the game, but Etienne Marcoux was able to make a sprawling save to preserve the lead.
Reds forward Philipe Halley extended the lead for the Reds when he scored just before the second intermission.
“Philippe Halley is getting better every game—he’s a guy that enjoys improving and I thought he had an amazing game, key difference maker and vital goals at different points in the game,” MacDougall said.
He added a second goal midway through the final period on a breakaway and then wired a puck into the top corner for a hat trick a few minutes later.
Halley has experienced an offensive explosion at the University Cup. He has six goals in two games after scoring only nine goals in 28 regular season games this year.
“I think I just have the bounce right now, but its a team effort,” he said. “My teammates, my line mates, are just doing the plays well placed on the ice to give me the puck and I just have to bury it, nothing too complicated.”
“In the [AUS playoff] series against St. FX, I had three breakaways and I missed them all, so I’m trying to vary a little bit—today I was fortunate to get it,” Halley said.
The Huskies were unable to generate any sort of comeback in the third period. They were out shot 32-13 in the game and did not register a shot on goal in the third period.
After upsetting the number one ranked Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières the previous night, Saint Mary’s head coach Trevor Stienburg was disappointed with the result.
“Creatively not what we wanted to have happen,” he said. “Everyone is suspect to having an off game and tonight I think we did have an off game.”
“We’re coming off a big high from last night. As a coach, when your team comes out and doesn’t play the game the way they want, I think there’s one person you can look squarely at and that’s the coach,” he said. “That’s our job to get the guys ready and prepare them. I’m not sure that was my strength tonight.”
On March 20 in Halifax, the Reds will take on the St Francis Xavier X-Men in the gold medal game, while the Huskies will face off against the Saskatchewan Huskies for the bronze medal.
