21 former OHL players hit the ice for deciding Game 3 of AUS Championship Series
The deciding game of the Atlantic University Sport Finals is set for Friday, March 6th between the University of New Brunswick Reds and the Acadia Axemen, with 21 former OHL players taking part.
The first place Reds, who rode a 14-game win streak over the course of the regular season, hold nine former OHLers on their roster. Up front are Patrick Watling (Soo Greyhounds), Ben Hawerchuk (Barrie Colts), Brady Gilmour (Saginaw Spirit), Kris Bennett (Saginaw Spirit), Dylan Seitz (Kitchener Rangers) and James McEwan (Guelph Storm). On the backend are Noah Carroll (Soo Greyhounds), Connor Hall (Kitchener Rangers) and Marcus McIvor (North Bay Battalion).
The second place Axemen boast 12 OHL alumni players, including forwards Maurizio Colella (Flint Firebirds), Ryan Foss (Guelph Storm), Eric Henderson (Hamilton Bulldogs), Johnny Corneil (Niagara IceDogs), Stephen Harper (Niagara IceDogs), Cristiano DiGiacinto (Windsor Spitfires) and Owen MacDonald (London Knights). On defence are Liam Maaskant (Kitchener Rangers), Alex Lepkowski (Oshawa Generals), TJ Fergus (Barrie Colts) and Garrett McFadden (Guelph Storm). Between the pipes is Dawson Carty (Hamilton Bulldogs).
The Reds swept the Moncton Aigles Bleus in the best-of-five semifinals, while the Axemen defeated the Saint Mary’s Huskies in three straight games. The Axemen would go on to take game one of the AUS Finals by a score of 3-1 with goals from DiGiacinto and MacDonald. Game two saw UNB blank Acadia 6-0 to force the tie breaker.
UNB will be playing for its third straight championship tonight, looking to continue an impressive stretch of six titles in the past nine years. Acadia last captured AUS Men’s Hockey supremacy in 2014.
Game time is 7pm Friday night at UNB’s Aitken Centre.