Source: UdeM Athletics
MONCTON – Université de Moncton Aigles Bleus (5-9-1=11pts, 7th position) are within one point of the sixth place Panthers by virtue of a 4-2 win over Dalhousie University Tigers (6-8-3=15pts, 4th position), Friday in front of over 400 spectators at the J.-Louis-Lévesque Arena in Atlantic University Sport men's hockey action.
Moncton will play the St. Francis Xavier X-Men (10-6-0=20pts, 2nd position), on Saturday in Antigonish.
Steve Lebel (Robbie Graham, Mitchell Robillard) started the ball rolling with an early goal in the first minute of play of the initial period. Alex Saulnier (Jean-François Plante, Allain Saulnier) offered his team a 2-0 lead at 6:43 of the middle stanza. Fabian Walsh gave the visitors a lift with the first of his team on the power play, 12 minutes later. Allain Saulnier (Alex Saulnier), shorthanded, put the local team ahead by two again with a goal at 11 seconds of the third. Jesse Lussier of the Tigers brought his team to within one goal again, at 16:59 on the power play. The Tigers added an extra attacker at the end of the game while their goaltender was on the bench. Jean-François Plante (unassisted) put the game out of reach in an empty net goal with three seconds left in the game.
"This was a needed victory. We need those standings points to stay alive and close to the other teams," stated Moncton attacker Steve Lebel. "We want to win the series against Dalhousie and this is another step. The objective was to begin the game strong and my goal did just that. The quick goal helped us with the success.''
"The win is very good for the moral of the team" added coach Serge Bourgeois. "We played a good game; we cleared our zone quite well and put pressure on their offense. Our penalty kill units did well and it was a team effort. The Tigers worked hard and they have an excellent goaltender. They are ahead of us in the standings and the win enables us to inch closer. I did ask the Saulnier brothers to get a shorthanded goal this evening and they achieved it. We have 5 points in our last four games which is good for us. It is a small step to get closer to the other teams. StFX will not be easy Saturday, but we are confident."
Brandon Thibeau faced 23 shots on goal for the victory while Corbin Boes saw 26 pucks in the loss. The UPEI Panthers lost 6-3 Friday against Saint Mary's.