UNB Reds repeat as national champs, complete perfect season
UNB downs UQTR Patriotes in University Cup final at former Maple Leaf Gardens
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The University of New Brunswick Reds capped off an undefeated season with their second consecutive David Johnson University Cup title and 10th national championship of all-time.
The perennial juggernaut Reds defeated the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières Patriotes 4-0 Sunday night at the Mattamy Athletic Centre – formerly Maple Leaf Gardens – in Toronto to claim their ninth U Sports men’s hockey title under decorated head coach Gardiner MacDougall.
Sunday’s win was UNB’s 42nd of the year and put a bow on a season in which the Reds went 30-0 in regular-season play, 4-0 in pre-season exhibition action, and 5-0 in the playoffs, sweeping the Saint Mary’s Huskies of Halifax and the Université de Moncton Aigles Bleus en route to their sixth consecutive Atlantic University Sport conference banner and 20th of all-time.
In achieving that feat, the Reds became the first U Sports squad to win more than 30 games in a row. They entered the championship game without a loss in 374 days after ending the 2022-23 campaign with five consecutive victories.
Brady Gilmour drew first blood for the Reds 7:52 into the national final with a shorthanded marker. Cody Morgan lit the lamp at 15:03 to put UNB up 2-0.
After a scoreless middle frame, Austen Keating went top shelf on Patriotes netminder Alexis Gravel with a backhand shot in close at 4:34 in the third to give the Reds a three-goal lead and add his third point of the night after assisting on Gilmour and Morgan’s goals in period one.
Isaac Nurse fired home an empty-netter for the Reds to put the final nail in the coffin with 36 seconds to go, roughly three minutes after the Patriotes pulled Gravel for an extra attacker.
Samuel Richard earned his third consecutive shutout of the tournament, blocking all 23 Patriotes shots. He was also named a tournament all-star, along with Simon Lafrance of the Patriotes and UNB’s Gilmour, who was named tournament MVP after recording seven points (a goal, six assists) in three U Cup games.
UNB’s Keating and Kale MacCallum, and McGill Martlets defenceman Scott Walford, were the other U Cup all-stars.
Gravel turned aside 28 of 32 shots from the Reds in the losing cause Sunday night.
The Reds punched their ticket to the national final with a 7-0 triumph Saturday over the host Toronto Metropolitan Bold – formerly known as the Ryerson Rams – in the semifinals. UNB blanked the Brock Badgers 4-0 in the quarterfinal at the single-elimination tournament.
In Sunday’s bronze-medal game, McGill edged Toronto Metropolitan 3-2.
Women’s hockey Reds fall to Thunderbirds
At the U Sports Women’s Hockey Championships in Saskatoon, the Reds fell 4-0 to the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds of Vancouver in the consolation semifinals Saturday.
The loss followed a 2-1 setback for UNB at the hands of the Toronto Varsity Blues in the quarterfinal. The Reds won their second straight AUS pennant after going 21-6-1 in regular-season play, good for second place in the eight-team conference, and beating the Huskies in four games in the semis.
UNB swept the St. Francis Xavier X-Women of Antigonish, N.S., in the AUS women’s final.
Pandas, Cougars strike curling gold
The Alberta Pandas and Regina Cougars won gold medals in their respective divisions Sunday at the U Sports Curling Championships, hosted by UNB at the Aitken Centre and Capital Winter Club.
Serena Gray-Withers’ rink clinched its second consecutive title and the third straight championship for Alberta after defeating the Waterloo Warriors 10-7 in the women’s final, completing an undefeated run in the tournament.
In the men’s division, Joshua Bryden’s rink landed the first national gold medal for the Cougars since 2009 with an 8-5 victory over the Dalhousie Tigers of Halifax.
The host Reds dropped a 12-7 decision to Waterloo in the women’s semis and lost 9-2 to the Dalhousie Tigers of Halifax in the bronze-medal game. UNB edged the Mount Allison Mounties of Sackville 7-6 in the final round-robin draw after beating the Laurentian Voyageurs of Sudbury, Ont., 8-6, downing Waterloo 6-2, losing 8-6 to the McMaster Marauders of Hamilton, Ont., defeating the Dalhousie Tigers of Halifax 11-6, and losing 10-5 to the Victoria Vikes and 9-6 to the Pandas.
On the men’s side, UNB fell short of the semis after losing 7-6 in extra ends to the Dalhousie Tigers of Halifax after beating the Guelph Gryphons 10-2, winning 10-9 over Saint Mary’s, losing 9-6 to the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks, falling 12-1 to the Alberta Golden Bears, and suffering a 9-2 setback at the hands of the Regina Cougars. The Reds opened the tournament with a 9-2 win over Brock.
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