Canadian Interuniversity Sport

MONCTON (CIS) - Robert Pearce scored 8:49 into the first overtime period to help the fifth-seeded University of New Brunswick Varsity Reds capture the second University Cup in team history with a 3-2 win over the top-ranked and tournament host Moncton Aigles Bleus in the CIS men's hockey final played in front of 6,023 fans at the Moncton Coliseum, on Sunday evening.

Cavendish University Cup web site: www.universitycup.ca

The V-Reds, who entered the contest with a 1-5 record against Moncton this season, including a two-game sweep in the Atlantic conference final, claimed their only previous national banner in 1997-98 with a 6-3 victory over Acadia in the title match.

This marked the sixth time in the last eight years overtime was needed to decide a CIS men's hockey champion.

Pearce, a third-year forward from Fredericton, was sent on a partial breakaway by fifth-year veteran Nick Marach (Delta, B.C.) and beat netminder Éric Lafrance (Hull, Que.) between the pads to end the first all-New Brunswick final in history.

"All I could think about was 'just finish it up'. We had a lot of chances up to that point in overtime and when you miss too many of those, it usually comes back to bite you," said Pearce, who came into the game with eight goals in 31 conference and playoff outings including the V-Reds first two contests of the weekend.

"We really came out strong tonight. We kept the pedal down all game, we gave it all we had," continued Pearce, named game MVP for the winning side. "A lot of people predicted a UNB-Moncton final before the weekend, we knew it would be a war."

UNB out-shot Moncton 38-24 on the night, including 14-6 in the first period, 13-9 in the second and 6-2 in overtime. The Aigles Bleus held a 7-5 edge in the third frame.

The turning point came midway through the third stanza with the V-Reds down 2-1.

Rookie goaltender Michael Ouzas (Hamilton) stoned Pierre-Luc Laprise (Jonquière, Que.), who was left all alone in front of him, with 9:46 remaining. The V-Reds rushed to the opposing zone and sophomore forward John Scott Dickson (Mississauga, Ont.) tied the affair 13 seconds later on a pretty pass from behind the net from second-team All-Canadian Rob Hennigar (Jordan, Ont.).

"It's unbelievable," said seven-year head coach Gardiner MacDougall, who was leading his troops to the national final for the second time, following a heart-breaking 3-2 loss to StFX in double overtime on home ice three years ago. "That loss hurt so much in 2004 at home. There is no better feeling than to end up the winner when the game is on the line like that."

"I honestly think our experience at the Universiade in Italy in January played a key role in the win," added MacDougall, who was an assistant coach with the gold-medal-winning Canadian team comprised of AUS all-stars, including four Varsity Reds. "As a coach, as players, you learn from winning. When we came back we were able to share a lot of the experience with the rest of the team."

Moncton player of the game Jean-François Laplante, a fourth-year centre from St-Constant, Que. opened the scoring only 2:43 into the contest, burying a rebound after a mad scramble in front of Ouzas' net.

With 39 seconds left in the first stanza, Moncton forward Yvan Busque (St-George-de-Beauce, Que.), who would be named University Cup tournament MVP after scoring five goals in the Aigles Bleus' first two outings, including the game-winner in double overtime against Laurier on Saturday, was ejected from the final following an incident near the Moncton bench.

"Obviously this was huge. To lose Yvan, and we had already lost (Sébastian) Strozynski to an injury yesterday. What can I say. I'm not sure about that call," commented CIS coach of the year Robert Mongrain, in his second season behind the Moncton bench.

"I'm really proud of our players. I mean, we're leading 2-1 in the national final with 10 minutes to play. We played very well. Hats off to UNB," added Mongrain.

Third-year forward Nathan O'Nabigon (Thunder Bay, Ont.) tied the affair at one all with his second of the tourney 23 seconds into the second period after the Moncton defense failed to clear the puck a few feet in front of Lafrance.

Laprise regained the lead for the Aigles Bleus midway through the second when his shot along the ice from 25 feet out found its way under Ouzas pads.

Moncton had two glorious opportunities to make it a two-goal game but couldn't convert a pair of two-man advantages with eight minutes left in the second frame and early in the third.

With 12:34 left in regulation, Moncton forward Glenn Robichaud (Tracadie-Sheila, N.B.) beat Ouzas with a backhander on the stick side but the puck ringed off the post.

The University Cup hosts would end up 0-for-6 on the power play for the match, while UNB was blanked on seven occasions.

Hennigar joined Busque on the tournament all-star team, along with fellow V-Red forward Darryl Boyce (Summerside, P.E.I.), rearguards Jesse Ferguson (Langley, B.C.) of UNB and Scott Toner (Grand-Sault, N.B.) of Moncton, and netminder Jeff MacDougall (Shallow Lake, Ont.) of Laurier.

The Université de Moncton plays host to the University Cup tournament again in 2008.

TOURNAMENT HONOURS

Cavendish University Cup MVP: Yvan Busque, Moncton

Tournament All-Stars:

Goaltender: Jeff MacDougall, Laurier
Defense: Jesse Ferguson, UNB
Defense: Scott Toner, Moncton
Forward: Yvan Busque, Moncton
Forward: Darryl Boyce, UNB
Forward: Rob Hennigar, UNB

SCORING SUMMARY

UNB 3, Moncton 2 (OT)

FIRST PERIOD

SCORING:

1. MON Jean-François Laplante (1) (Rémi Doucet), 2:43

PENALTIES:

Patrick Gilbert (MON) hooking, 3:38; Darryl Boyce (UNB) checking, 9:11; Francis Trudel (MON) hooking, 14:00; Pierre-Luc Laprise (MON) 16:43; Yvan Busque (MON) interference, 19:21; Yvan Busque (MON) game misconduct, 19:21; Joshua Hepditch (UNB) roughing, 19:21.

SECOND PERIOD

SCORING:

2. UNB Nathan O'Nabigon (2) (Darryl Boyce), 0:23
3. MON Pierre-Luc Laprise (1) (Karl Fournier), 10:32

PENALTIES:

Craig Perry (UNB) roughing, 1:40; Glenn Robichaud (MON) hooking, 8:11; Denny Johnston (UNB) goaltender interference, 11:11; Colin Sinclair (UNB) holding the stick, 11:50; Mathieu Bétournay (MON) tripping, 12:58; Craig Perry (UNB) high-sticking, 17:45; Robert Pearce (UNB) hooking, 17:20.

THIRD PERIOD

SCORING:

4. UNB John Scott Dickson (2) (Rob Hennigar), 10:27

PENALTIES:

John Scott Dickson (UNB) tripping, 0:34; David Bowman (UNB) high-sticking, 1:25; Jules Melanson (MON) cross-checking, 14:54.

FIRST OVERTIME (10 minutes)

SCORING:

5. UNB Robert Pearce (1) (Nick Marach), 8:49

PENALTIES:

Scott Toner (MON) cross-checking, 5:58.

GOALS (by period)

UNB: 0-1-1-1:3
MON: 1-1-0-0:2

SHOTS ON GOAL (by period)

UNB: 14-13-5-5:37
MON: 6-9-7-2:24

POWER PLAY:

UNB: 0-7
MON: 0-6

GOALTENDERS

UNB - Michael Ouzas (W, 3-0, 24 shots, 22 saves, 68:49)
MON - Éric Lafrance (L, 2-1, 38 shots, 35 saves, 68:49)

PLAYERS OF THE GAME:

UNB: Robert Pearce
MON: Jean-François Laplante

REFEREE: Brad Mills

LINESMEN: Mike MacDonnell, Daniel Béchard

ATTENDANCE: 6,023

SEEDINGS, POOLS, SCHEDULE & RESULTS (all times LOCAL / AT)

Pool A (final round-robin standings)

No. 1 Moncton (2-0)
No. 4 Laurier (1-1)
No. 6. StFX (0-2)

Pool B (final round-robin standings)

No. 5. UNB (2-0)
No. 3. UQTR (1-1)
No. 2. Saskatchewan (0-2)

Thursday, March 22

Pool B #1: UNB 2, Saskatchewan 1
Pool A #1: Laurier 4, StFX 3 (2OT)

Friday, March 23

Pool B #2: UQTR 3, Saskatchewan 2
Pool A #2: Moncton 5, StFX 3

Saturday, March 24

Pool B #3: UNB 6, UQTR 0
Pool A #3: Moncton 5, Laurier 4 (2OT)

Sunday, March 25

Championship final: UNB 3, Moncton 2 (OT)

- CIS -