Championships Men’s Hockey

Men’s Hockey

Defending champion UQTR cruises past Saint Mary's into semifinals

U SPORTS Staff

CHARLOTTETOWN (U SPORTS)—The defending U CUP champions punched their ticket to the semifinals. In the tournament’s first quarter-final game, the UQTR Patriotes took down the Saint Mary’s Huskies 4-1 to advance to the next round.

Defenceman Justin Bergeron had two assists in the win, while teammates Olivier Garneau, David Noël, Felix Lafrance and Zachary Lavigne each found the back of the net.

Schedule & Results

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Before the Patriotes took over the game, it was the Huskies who controlled the pace of play early on. They were rewarded with a goal at 4:42 when Keith Getson fired a shot from the point that Nathan Dunkley redirected past Alexis Gravel.

The Patriotes found their stride late in the frame but couldn’t get one by rookie netminder Jeremy Helvig, as they trailed 1-0 after 20 minutes of play.

UQTR carried that momentum into the second period where they scored quickly. Just 29 seconds in, Garneau redirected a shot from Bergeron as he was crashing toward the net, which tied the game at one apiece.

The Patriotes continued to blitz the Huskies, who didn’t have an answer for the OUA champions. They made them pay on a power play midway through the stanza when Conor Frenette sent a cross-ice pass to Noël, who put away the one-timer for the go-ahead goal.

Saint Mary’s had a great opportunity to even the score when UQTR’s Michael Pellerin was called for a double-minor penalty that extended into the third period. However, the Patriotes’ defence stood the test and maintained the one-goal advantage.

That lead would grow to 3-1 at 5:47 when Lafrance redirected a shot from Bergeron. Lavigne then added an empty-netter late in the period to put the game away, 4-1.

Both Gravel and Helvig turned aside 25 shots in the contest.

Boxscore

 Nike Top Performers

  • UQTR: Justin Bergeron
  • Saint Mary’s: Justin MacPherson