(FREDERICTON, NB) Marley Van Den Oetelaar (Whitby, ON) led the UNB REDS with a pair of assists in a hard fought win over the STFX X-Women 3-1 on Saturday night.
Van Den Oetelaar's two points earned her Subway Player of the Game.
"We worked really well together," she said. "It came down to work ethic, second efforts, getting to the net, getting in the lanes and playing our game."
The game was played before 308 fully-vaccinated and masked fans at UNB's Aitken Centre.
The two teams played to a scoreless opening period.
The REDS came closest when Paige Grenier (Olds, AB) just missed a breakaway pass six minutes in.
X had a handful of great chances on a pair of power-plays, but the REDS penalty kill was up to the task, clearing the front of their net of any possible second chances.
The offense for both teams would start early in the second.
Maggy Burbidge (Falmouth, NS) would streak down the right wing of the ice and fire home STFX's goal over the shoulder of Kendra Woodland (Kamloops, BC) to make it 1-0.
Lillian George (Garden Village First Nation) would respond just 1:21 later for the REDS, crashing the net to bury a rebound and tie the score 1-1.
"That one goal really got under our skin and we responded great, got to the net and did exactly what we needed to do," said Van Den Oetelaar.
Payton Hargreaves (Whitby, ON) would come close to giving the REDS the lead a few minutes later, receiving a pass alone in front only to backhand it just over the X net.
With just seven minutes to play in the second, Amanda Desrochers (St Francois Xavier, MB) fed a cross-crease pass to Melanie Drost (Nepean, ON) who put it past Jamie Johnson (Victoria, BC) to give UNB the 2-1 lead.
STFX would press the REDS hard in an attempt to even the score, outshooting UNB 12-8 in the third period.
"They put pucks in the net in close areas. We had a couple that we could have finished and I think it was just a battle between two really good teams," said Burbidge. "Hopefully we will get the win [next time] when it matters, but obviously they're a great team and we have to respect how good they played."
The REDS would stand strong to the X attack and with just over two minutes left, Sydney Oitomen (Mississauga, ON) tipped Jenna MacLean's (Wilcox, SK) point shot for a power-play goal to seal the 3-1 victory.
Shots were 30-25 for STFX in the game.
Woodland made 29 saves in the win for the REDS while Johnson had 22 for the X-Women.
The REDS improve to 14-3-0-2 to sit second in the AUS standings. STFX drops to 14-6-0 and sit third.
UNB will travel to play the U de Moncton Aigles Bleus next Saturday. Game time is at 2:00pm.
X will head to Halifax on Friday for a 7:00pm matchu with the Dalhousie Tigers.
RECAP BY: Jonathon James/for UNB Athletics
PHOTOS BY: James West/for UNB Athletics