Reds hand Panthers second straight loss
Early third period goal was enough for Reds to down Panthers.
(FREDERICTON, NB) Hannah Green (Richmond, BC) scored the game winner early in the third period as The UNB Reds defeated the UPEI Panthers 3-1 on Sunday afternoon.
The Reds have won their last two games to improve to 2-1-3 while the Panthers drop to 3-3.
"The girls were really fired up before the game, they really wanted to make this a statement. I think we did a really good job of building off that momentum and work ethic that we had yesterday (Saturday)," said Reds head coach Sarah Hilworth.
The win is the first at home for a UNB women's hockey team since a 4-2 win over UPEI on February 2nd, 2008.
Both teams played an even first ten minutes with some early back and forth action.
The best chance of the period went to the Panthers Taylor Gillis (Summerside, PE) who broke in all alone but was stopped by the pad of Reds netminder Hailey Martens (Ladysmith, BC).
The Reds got some chances back in the final minutes, on the power-play, but couldn't convert and it was scoreless after the first.
The Reds got the offence going early in the second. A fortunate bounce off a UPEI player ended up on the stick of Hanna Matchett (Nanton, AB) who picked the top corner from the slot just 2:40 in.
The Panthers would bounce back just over a minute later, swarming the Reds net with Kelly Clements (Murray River, PE) potting the goal to make it 1-1.
The Reds would get another early period goal with Julia Spitzig (Kitchener, ON) putting a cross-ice pass to Hannah Green who deflected it past Camille Scherger (Lloydminster, AB) to put the Reds back on top 2-1.
"Our coach has really been putting emphasis on getting the defence up in the rush and I just saw my opportunity to really step up there and got rewarded for it, not to mention the beautiful pass," said Green, who was named the Subway Player of the Game.
The Reds would kill a pair of Panther powerplays and play a strong defensive game the rest of the way to close out the win.
Tamina Kehler (Chilliwack, BC) would score an empty net goal to make the final score 3-1.
Shots on goal were 33-24 for the Reds.
Martens made 23 saves for the Reds while Scherger made 30 saves for the Panthers.
The Reds host the Saint Mary's Huskies on Friday. Game time is 7:00pm.
The Panthers are back in Fredericton on Friday, taking on the St. Thomas Tommies in another 7:00pm start.
RECAP BY: Jonathan James/for UNB Athletics
PHOTOS BY: Lauren Tidd/for UNB Athletics