(FREDERICTON, NB) The UNB REDS made a statement Friday night, beating the UPEI Panthers 7-1 on Soldier Appreciation Night at UNB's Aitken Centre.

Three of the UNB goals came in a 32-second span of the first period. 

Ross MacDougall (St. Stephen, NB) opened the scoring for the REDS at 7:12.

Macauley Carson (Midhurst, ON) scored 22 seconds later, and Michael Petizian (Mississauga, ON) finished the surge with a goal at 7:44.

Adam McCormick (Waterville, NB) scored a fourth goal in the period for UNB midway through the frame.

"We wanted a good start and lots of shots to start the game and we did that, and it carried over into the second and third," said McCormick, who was named Subway Player of the Game and was awarded UNB's prestigious Fallen Soldier Award.

"It's a big game, a very honorable award, and I'm just glad we got the win," added McCormick. 

Kaleb Pearson (St. Mary's, ON) closed the gap in the score with a goal for the Panthers midway through the second period. 

The REDS responded with a pair of goals from Austen Keating (Guelph, ON) and Brady Gilmour (Grafton, ON) to make it a 6-1 game after two periods.

Simon Pinard (Drummondville, QC) scored the lone goal of the third period as the REDS skated to their 7-1 victory.

"We came out strong, we followed our game plan," said McCormick.

With the win, the REDS are 23-4-1-1(W-L-OTL-SOL), while the Panthers fall to 17-10-2-1.

The Panthers are now finished their regular season schedule and await a first-round playoff opponent.

The REDS wrap up their regular season schedule in Moncton on Saturday. Game time is 7:00pm.

RECAP BY: Lauren Kelly/for UNB Athletics

PHOTOS BY: Fran Harris/for UNB Athletics