FREDERICTON, N.B. -- The UNB Varsity Reds men's hockey team had goals from six different marksmen en route to doubling visiting McGill 6-3 in men's pre-season hockey at the Aitken Centre, Friday.

It was a heated match featuring 67 penalty minutes, between two top-level teams in the CIS. UNB and McGill finished the 2014-15 regular season ranked second and seventh in the country, respectively. 

The Varsity Reds, which outshot McGill 37-22, led 2-1 after one period and 5-2 after two. They went 2-for-6 on the power-play, while McGill was 2-for-8.

UNB opened the scoring early with a shorthanded goal at 3:13 when Rob Mignardi of Richmond Hill, Ont., found the net on a defty feed off the rush from Dylan Willick. They upped the count to 2-0 when Peter Trainor of Fredericton, N.B., connected on a power-play marker some 10 minutes later.

McGill narrowed the gap to 2-1 at 15:40, taking advantage of a 5-on-3 manpower situation when high-scoring defenceman Samuel Labrecque of Granby, Que., blasted a shot past UNB goalie Etienne Marcoux. Assists went to Jonathan Bonneau and rookie Dominic Talbot-Tassi.

The second period started slow but ended in a four-goal flurry. The first two came in quick succession for UNB, with Philippe Halley of Quebec City, making it 3-1 for the V-Reds at 11:37. Just over a minute later, Chris Caissy of Campbellton, N.B., fooled McGill netminder Karel St. Laurent of Ste. Catherine, Que., with a knuckleball-style shot to make it 4-1.

McGill forward Daniel Milne, a freshman from Unionville, Ont., reduced the gap to 4-2 at 14:44 of the middle stanza, converting a pass from rookie Frederic Gamelin. But UNB's Alex Wall of Mt. Pearl, Nfld., responded just minutes later, at 17:28 to cap the outburst and give UNB a commanding 5-2 advantage after two.

In the final period, Mathieu Pompei of Laval, Que., countered for the Redmen, rifling a wrist shot from the high slot, at 4:55, over the shoulder of back-up goalie Alex Dubeau, who had come into the contest midway through the middle period. Rearguard Alex Chevenert and Milne were credited with assists on the play.

Ahead 5-3, McGill pulled their goalie for an extra attacker, which almost paved the way to see the UNB 'keeper score his first career goal. He corralled a dump-in and shot the puck off his nearby boards to clear the UNB zone. The puck appeared to be heading for the open McGill net but the aforementioned Chevenert raced back and finally caught up to the puck as it was about to enter the goal crease.

Taylor MacDougall finally put the game out of reach for UNB with just 13 seconds remaining in the game.

St-Laurent, making his third straight start between the pipes for McGill -- in the wake of an undisclosed injury to Jacob Gervais-Chouinard -- took the loss. He was beaten six times on 37 shots. Marcoux, the UNB starting netminder, turned aside 12 of 13 shots before being replaced by Dubeau, who collected the victory with seven saves on nine shots.

McGill is now 1-10 lifetime against UNB dating back to their first rendezvous in 1979. Their lone victory was a 7-4 decision on Oct. 13, 1989 at McConnell Arena. The Redmen, who dropped to 1-2 in exhibition play, head to Halifax on Saturday (Sept.19) for a 6 pm (Eastern) puck drop against Saint Mary's. The game will be webcast on AUStv.ca with live stats available at the SMU link .

The Varsity Reds (1-0) will host hometown rivals St. Thomas on Sept. 21.

GAME NOTES: UNB, a perrenial powerhouse in the Atlantic conference, will maintain a roster of 23 players this season -- their lowest total since 2008-09 -- in the wake of recent league guidelines implemented by the AUS coaches to reduce roster sizes, essentially so that other teams will have a better chance at recruiting quality players.

LINK TO COMPLETE BOXSCORE

SCORING SUMMARY
McGill 3 at UNB 6
(Friday, September 18, 2015 - Preseason game at Aitken Centre)

GOALS BY PERIOD:
McGill 1-1-1 -- 3
UNB 2-3-1 -- 6

1st Period-
1, UNB, Rob Mignardi 1 (Willick), 3:13 (SH).
2, UNB, Peter Trainor 1 (Murray, Maillet), 13:10 (PP).
3, McGill, Samuel Labrecque 2 (Talbot-Tassi, Bonneau), 15:40 (PP).

Penalties-Murray Unb (hooking), 2:28; Heelis Mcg (checking from behind, 10-minute misconduct), 7:37; Lambert-Lemay Mcg (cross checking), 12:14; Delisle-Houde Mcg (roughing), 13:48; Beavillier Unb (roughing, slashing), 13:48; Critchlow Unb (roughing), 15:36; Curcuruto Mcg (high sticking), 15:50.

2nd Period-
4, UNB, Philippe Halley 1 (Maillet, Petgrave), 11:37.
5, UNB, Christopher Caissy 1 (Mignardi, Petgrave), 12:55.
6, McGill, Daniel Milne 1 (Gamelin), 14:44 (PP).
7, UNB, Alex Wall 1 (Gazzola, MacDougall), 17:28.

Penalties-Chenevert Mcg (roughing), 2:42; Trainor Unb (roughing), 2:42; Halley Unb (slashing), 5:45; Trainor Unb (slashing), 9:08; Murray Unb (major-checking to the head, game misconduct), 13:17; Millette Mcg (interference), 17:03; Milne Mcg (roughing), 20:00; Beavillier Unb (roughing), 20:00.

3rd Period-
8, McGill, Mathieu Pompei 2 (Chenevert, Milne), 4:55.
9, UNB, Taylor MacDougall 1 (Gazzola, Anderson), 19:47 (PP).

Penalties-Antonelli Mcg (hooking), 5:31; Trainor Unb (tripping), 10:54; Petgrave Unb (tripping), 13:09; Delisle-Houde Mcg (roughing), 16:08; Beavillier Unb (roughing), 16:08; Gamelin Mcg (tripping), 18:52.

Shots on Goal-
McGill 9-8-5 -- 22.
UNB 10-13-14 -- 37.

Power Play Opportunities-
McGill 2 / 8 (plus 1 SHG against)
UNB 2 / 6.

Goalies-
McGill,
Karel St-Laurent (L, 1-2-0, 37 shots-31 saves; 59:10).

UNB,
Etienne Marcoux (Start, ND, 13 shots-12 saves, 28:23);
Alex Dubeau (W, 1-0-0, 9 shots-7 saves; 31:37).

Attendance: 1405
Start: 7:01 PM
End: 9:20 PM
Length: 2:19
Referees-Jamie Trenholme, Steve O'Shaunessey.
Linesmen-David Geris, Tracy Price.

THREE STARS:
1. UNB - 18 Rob Mignardi
2. MCG - 11 Daniel Milne
3. UNB - 22 Taylor MacDougall

SOURCE:

Earl Zukerman
Communications Officer
Athletics & Recreation
McGill University
514-398-7012 (Tel.)
m.athletics.mcgill.ca (mobile website)
www.mcgill athletics.ca
earl.zukerman@mcgill.ca
@EarlZukerman (twitter)
 
SEE COMPLETE McGILL VARSITY SCHEDULE ONLINE AT:
www.mcgillathletics.ca/calendar.aspx