Reds look to defend U Sports men's hockey title and cap unbeaten season

TORONTO — Colton Kammerer and the New Brunswick Reds will have a shot at defending their Canadian university men's hockey title and completing an unbeaten season.

Kammerer had a goal and two assists to lead the top-seeded Reds to a 7-0 semifinal win over the Toronto Metropolitan University Bold on Saturday. UNB will face the second-ranked Universite du Quebec a Trois-Rivières Patriotes in Sunday's final.

The Patriotes defeated the sixth-seeded McGill Redbirds 5-4 Saturday night.

"I've been waiting for three years for this, so coming into the tournament I was super excited," Kammerer said. "We were very fortunate to get that win, and we're excited (for Sundays final)."

Samuel Richard stopped 22 shots to register the shutout, his second of the tournament, for New Brunswick, which led 3-0 after the first period and 5-0 entering the third.

"We kept our foot on the pedal," said New Brunswick's Brady Gilmour, who had four assists in the contest. "We knew they could come back.}

Austen Keating and Jason Willms both had a goal and an assist for New Brunswick. Sean McGurn, Kale McCallum, Kade Landry and Camaryn Baber also scored for the winners.

Toronto goaltender Kai Edmonds stopped 41 shots.

New Brunswick is looking to cap an undefeated season with another U Sports crown. The Reds posted a perfect 30-0-0 regular-season record and haven't lost a game this year — including exhibition contests — and last tasted defeat March 7, 2023.

The Reds also haven't allowed a goal in the national championship tournament. They opened the University Cup with a 4-0 quarterfinal win over eighth-seeded Brock.

Conor Frenette's goal at 16:19 of the third period snapped a 4-4 tie and gave the Patriotes the victory.

Simon Lafrance, Edouard Cournoyer, William Dumoulin and Vincent Milot-Ouellet also scored for the Patriotes, who were outshot 29-28.

Alexandre Gagnon scored twice for the Redbirds, while Xavier Fortin and Eric Uba netted singles.

The Patriotes led 2-1 after the first period and the teams were tied 4-4 heading into the third.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 16, 2024.