Huskies Edge REDS
(FREDERICTON, NB) The Saint Mary's Huskies rode an early second half goal to a 1-0 victory over the UNB REDS, in Fredericton, on Saturday afternoon.
The only goal of the game came in the 51st minute when SMU's Adam Dunsworth (Halifax, NS) laid a cross into the UNB box that second-year Huskie Sean Freeman (Halifax, NS) converted, breaking a 0-0 deadlock.
"I saw the ball bounce, saw a couple of runners in there," said Dunsworth, named Subway Player of the Game. "The ball just squeaked through and found one of our guys."
The ball just eluded the grasp of REDS' keeper Louis-Charles Vaillancourt (Sherbrooke, QC).
Until Freeman's goal, the two sides had been engaged in a defensive battle, which UNB seemed to be dominating.
"We sorted things out at half time," said Dunsworth. "We had a talk and came together defensively, as a unit."
"We tried, in the second half, to get a little bit more active and a little bit more forward, which opened up some space for them," said REDS head coach Barry Morrison. "I thought they did a good job taking advantage of that through the middle part of the second half, but I thought in the final ten minutes or so, we put in the effort, but didn't have the result that we wanted."
The Huskies did have an early scoring chance.
In the 8th minute, midfielder Ahmed Ibrahim (Halifax, NS) fired a shot that Vaillancourt had to dive to stop.
With the win, the Huskies improve to 4-1-0 on the season, while the REDS' record is now 2-1-1.
Up next for the Huskies, a stop in Moncton, on Sunday. Game time is scheduled for 3:15pm.
The REDS will be in Charlottetown to face the UPEI Panthers. That game is also scheduled for a 3:15 start.
"We've been talking all week about what we had to do in game one and how we had to recover and focus and get ready for game two, so the plan remains the same," said Morrison. "I think we've got a little bit more to prove, I think we've got another gear that we haven't been able to find and if we can get that gear tomorrow, I think that'll speak well for us."
RECAP BY: Andy Campbell/UNB Athletics
PHOTOS BY: James West/for UNB Athletics