Panthers’ season comes to an end after 4-1 Game 2 loss against Huskies

By Reegan MacAulay

The UPEI Panthers will have to wait another year to "tame the beast," a.k.a. the Saint Mary's University Huskies.

A season that wasn't meant to be officially closed on Friday night as the Panthers dropped the second and final game of their Atlantic University Sport (AUS) quarterfinal series against the Huskies 4-1 at the MacLauchlan Arena, resulting in their elimination from the playoffs, their fifth consecutive in the quarterfinals.

After a convincing effort in game one on Wednesday in Halifax, N.S., which ended with the worst heartbreak imaginable (three unanswered goals and a no-goal call during double overtime), there was hope that UPEI could return home and gain momentum from their home crowd to force the series back to Halifax. Unfortunately, revenge for being swept in last year's quarterfinals never came.

As soon as the puck dropped on Friday, the Huskies quickly took control of the game and never looked back. Their efforts began with a power play goal at 6:17; a shot from the point by Derek Gentile went wide, but the puck bounced off the back boards and to the front of the net, where Ben Boyd fired a rebound past Panthers goaltender Jakob Robillard to give SMU a 1-0 lead. Nearly 10 minutes later, at 16:08, Jaxon Bellamy fed a pass from the blue line to Gentile at the right-wing faceoff dot, who then found Reid Valade in the high slot, and Valade finished the tic-tac-toe play with a low one-timer to extend SMU's lead to two.

The second period went scoreless but was filled with penalties, with Boyd and Kurtis Henry notably feuding multiple times. They both received 10-minute misconducts at the final buzzer due to a scrum while both teams were exiting the ice. The third period was relatively quiet shot-wise but three more goals were scored. At 9:58, on a Huskies power play, another tic-tac-toe play occurred, starting with Ben Roger at the point to Charlie Da Fonesca at the goal line and ending with a feed to Jake Uberti along Robillard's right pad for a 3-0 SMU lead.

All confidence in UPEI was lost by that point, however, at 12:54, they found some life. Patrick Leblanc, positioned along the right boards, found Cole Larkin at the point, who fired a one-timer over the glove of Huskies goaltender Justin Sumarah to put the Panthers on the board. Sadly, that's all the Panthers had left in the tank against the powerhouse Huskies, who sealed the deal for the game win at 19:55 with an empty-net goal by Bellamy.

Sumarah, Larkin, and Gentile were named the game's three stars. The final shot count was 31-22 in favour of SMU. Robillard stopped 27 of 30 shots while Sumarah denied 21 of 22 shots. UPEI went 0-for-2 on the power play while SMU went 2-for-7.

As the highest remaining seed, the Huskies will play the second-seed Moncton Aigles Bleus in the semifinals expected to begin within a week.

Henry, Kaleb Pearson, and Cade Kowalski each played their final game as a Panther. Henry and Pearson will be significantly missed as two of the program's best and most memorable players in recent history. They will be remembered most for making immediate impacts within the lineup during the 2021-22 season despite losing ice time the prior season due to COVID-19, breaking out during the team's University Cup (2022-23) season, and taking on major leadership roles during the team's recent rebuilding campaigns. Kowalski joined the program in 2023 and, for two seasons, applied his prior National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) experience, which made him a key depth piece and leader who could play wherever and however he was told to.

While Landon Clow and Logan Kelly-Murphy, both born and raised on P.E.I., did not play in either quarterfinal game this week, they must not be forgotten. Clow played just 21 games across two seasons but was a reliable and gritty player ready to step into the lineup whenever needed and surprised people many times with some impressive goals. Kelly-Murphy could always be counted on for the rare and gifted defense-first mindset, strength, and stability he brought and utilized for three seasons, making him an underrated and popular standout amongst management and fans.

To all five mentioned players, thank you for everything and best of luck in your future endeavours. To everybody else involved in contributing to the UPEI Panthers men's hockey program this season, along with our amazing fans who showed incredible support through all the ups and downs, the entire UPEI Athletics and Recreation department says thank you. We hope to be back better than ever in October.

Photo Credit: Janessa Vanden Broek