UQTR Convincingly Moves On To Semifinals with win over Moncton
Photo: U SPORTS/UQTR
Written By Blake Hanlin
A trio of early UQTR goals sealed Moncton's fate in Friday's quarterfinal matchup.
The UQTR Patriotes found success again at the Mattamy Athletic Centre, defeating the Moncton Aigles 5-1.
Prior to the game, an NHL royal tuned in for some USports hockey. Former NHL general manager Brian Burke kicked off the festivities with a ceremonial puck drop with team captains David Noёl and Mika Cyr.
The handshake between the two leaders wiped away quickly, as the Patriotes found success 55 seconds in with a Charles Beaudoin one-timer, orchestrated by OUA East MVP Simon Lafrance.
The Lafrance show was the narrative of the first. Once again, he dished a beautiful no-look backhand pass to Kaylen Gauthier, who tucked it past Aigles netminder Oliver Adam. Immediately after, Lafrance carried the puck on the rush and drilled a powerful blockerside goal that earned him his third point of the period.
"It's a team effort." Simon said. "If my brother doesn't do the thing [call for the puck] on the second goal, if Beau [Beaudoin] didn't get open, if Kay [Kaylen Gauthier] didn't get open, there would be no goals."
An amped-up powerplay gave Acadian fans some life to start the second, but 2018 Chicago Blackhawks draftee Alexis Gravel covered his ground well to keep the game scoreless. This sustained momentum even led Aigles to outshoot their opponents in the middle part of the match, finally leading to success on the scoresheet. Jermey Lapointe played spoiler for Gravel's shutdown and finally gave Moncton justice for the effort they were exhibiting on the ice.
However, the Aigles' energy was cut short by Lafrance again. Except on this occasion it came at the hands of his brother Félix, netting his second of the game, increasing the margin by 4 goals.
"It's special because outside of the ice we have great chemistry too." Felix said about their connection.
Moncton struggled to find any source of luck for the rest of the match, even when leading in shots 34 to 23 when the game concluded. The Patriotes ended up victorious because they capitalized on their scoring chances more efficiently. The score doesn't dictate how evenly matched these teams were; UQTR just has much more recent experience at this level with their core.
"It's a game of luck and the bounces just didn't go our way." Moncton Head Coach Derek Cormier said. "We've learned from this game today and going forward—that's a good team over there as well, we can't take anything from them."
Trois-Rivières displayed a substantial amount of skill and poise that sent the loser back to the Maritimes. The Lafrance brotherly combo tallied 7 points between one another, and the pair look to advance even further into the tournament.
The winner of McGill and the University of British Columbia will face the family test from UQTR on Saturday at 7 p.m.
