HALIFAX – A hat trick from Philippe Halley powered the UNB Varsity Reds to a 5-1 win over the Western Mustangs in the quarterfinals at the CIS University Cup on Friday afternoon. With the victory the Varsity Reds advance to the national semi-finals, where they'll face the winner of tonight's Saint Mary's-UQTR matchup.
"We played a great team today, definitely the best team we've faced this year," said Western head coach Clarke Singer. "I give all the credit in the world to UNB, they're well coached, they play hard, and they were just a little bit too much for us today."
"[I'm] proud of our guys, they worked hard right to the final buzzer. We've had an outstanding year and lost to a better hockey team."
Halley scored the V-Reds first and third goals of the game, before completing his hat trick at 6:44 of the third period. Matt Petgrave and Cameron Brace provided the other goals for the V-Reds, while netminder Etienne Marcoux stopped 14 shots in the win.
Cody Brown provided the offence for Western, scoring a fantastic goal late in the third.
Greg Dodds stopped 40 shots in the loss, including a stellar second period that saw him turn aside all 15 shots he faced.
The Mustangs didn't get off to the start they wanted, heading to the penalty kill twice in the opening five minutes. Despite killing off both man advantages, the Varsity Reds put their first marker on the board at 8:40, with Halley scoring off of a shot from the slot.
UNB extended their lead less than a minute later, as a long shot from Petgrave took a bad bounce into the Mustangs net to give the Varsity Reds a 2-0 lead.
The V-Reds continued to control the play for the remainder of the period, and added to their lead with just under five minutes remaining. After a blocked shot from the point, Halley picked up the loose puck and notched his second goal of the period to make it 3-0 for UNB.
Cam Braes nearly made it 4-0 for the Varsity Reds on a penalty shot, but Dodds made a stellar pad save to keep the puck on the right side of the line and out of the Mustangs net.
Western came out strong in the second, generating a couple of scoring chances, while Dodds made a number of fantastic saves to keep the purple and white within three.
Despite trailing by three, the Mustangs came out of the gates firing in the third, generating three quality scoring chances in the first two minutes alone. Unfortunately for Western it was the Varsity Reds who opened the scoring in the period, as Brace converted a pass from Francis Beauvillier to put UNB up 4-0.
Hayley added his third of the day towards the middle of the period, scoring on a wraparound to complete the hat trick.
The Mustangs had a number of good chances in the third, and finally broke through as Brown rounded out the game's scoring with a little over five minutes remaining. The second-year forward stole the puck in the UNB zone before cutting hard towards the middle of the net and going high over Marcoux to set the final score at 5-1.
"I'm very proud of the guys," said captain
David Corrente following the game. "Not many people maybe gave us a chance at the beginning of this year, seeing our team coming in, to make it this far. I'm very proud of my guys and there's a great future here at Western."
"Hopfeully we take from this experience, the good and the bad, we learn from it, and we come back a stronger group next year," said Singer. "Our leaders have made sure we've done that all year. This team has learned from a bit of a losing streak at midseason, came together and became a better team for it.
"We'll certainly take the experiences we had here this weekend, and today against a very good hockey team, and build on what we had this year."
NOTES: Brown was named player of the game for the Mustangs, while Halley earned the honour for the V-Reds…Today's game was the fifth meeting between UNB and Western at the University Cup, with the Mustangs now holding a 1-4 record against the Varsity Reds…
