Cooper Lifts UNB To Win At UPEI

(CHARLOTTETOWN, PE) Oliver Cooper(Fredericton, NB) scored the game winner as the UNB Varsity Reds beat the UPEI Panthers 3-2 Saturday night, in Charlottetown.

A misplay by goaltender Matt Mahalak(Monroe, MICH) and the hustle of UNB's Cam Brace(Etobicoke, ON) led to Cooper's goal, his sixth of the season.

"Cam made a nice play pressuring the goalie and was able to poke the puck to me, and luckily I was in the right spot at the right time," said Cooper, who was named Subway Player of the Game.

Desperate to snap a six game skid, the Panthers attacked early and often.

At 7:47 of the first period, Kameron Kielly(Charlottetown, PE) sniped his fifth of the season, giving the home team a 1-0 edge.

The Varsity Reds responded just five minutes later on a goal by Ty Boland(St. John's, NL).

In the second period, with a chance to pull ahead on the power-play, the Panthers coughed it up in the neutral zone, and Dylan Willick(Prince George, BC) went in alone and beat Mahalak top shelf for the short-handed marker.

UPEI's Riley Whittingham(Calgary, AB) tied it 2-2 a short time later.

The Panthers held their own against the V-Reds for the majority of the game, but an error in judgment at the 7:25 mark of the third period was costly.

Mahalak came out too far to play the puck. As he was trying to clear it, Brace raced down the ice to meet him and managed to poke the puck to the front of the net for Cooper, who scored the game winner.

"I think for us, it's the way we work," Cooper said. "We got pucks in deep, we stuck to our system, and even when things weren't going right for us, we stuck to the game plan and it paid off."

The Panthers look to snap their seven-game losing streak when they host Dalhousie next Friday.

The Varsity Reds return home to host St FX on Friday, a battle of the top two teams in Atlantic University Sport. Game time is 7:00pm.

RECAP BY: Thomas Becker/for UPEI Athletics

PHOTOS BY: UPEI Athletics