2025 Bell Men's Hockey Playoff: Morgan's hat trick gives REDS 1-0 lead in semifinal series

Game 2 to go Friday night at UNB

(FREDERICTON, NB) Cody Morgan (Gilford, ON) scored three times to lead the UNB REDS in a 5-2 win over the Acadia Axemen in the opening game of their best-of-five Atlantic University Sport semifinal series, Thursday night at UNB’s Aitken Centre. 

Morgan scored twice in the first period and added his third in the second, earning Tim Horton’s Player of the Game honours. 

The home team wasted little time, scoring just 66 seconds into the game, a well-placed shot by Sean McGurn (Ottawa, ON). 

The Axemen responded quickly, on the power-play, when Cam MacDonald (Hammonds Plains, NS) scored at the 2:11 mark. 

Morgan restored UNB’s lead at 5:47, sneaking the puck past Axemen netminder Thomas Couture (Levis, QC). 

His second of the night came on a similar play, and with UNB working with the man advantage, at 10:22. 

Marc Boudreau trimmed the UNB lead to 3-2 about seven minutes into the second, but Morgan completed the hat trick mid-way through the frame giving UNB a 4-2 lead after 40 minutes. 

The teams played a physical third period with UNB’s Oliver Peer (Burlington, ON) scoring into an empty net at 17:55 to make the final 5-2. 

Peer and McGurn both finished the night with a goal and an assist, as did Acadia’s MacDonald. Brady Burns (Port Williams, NS) assisted on both Acadia goals. 

The REDS outshot the Axemen 61-17. 

UNB hosts Game 2 of the series on Friday night. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m. 

RECAP BY: Andy Campbell/UNB Athletics 

PHOTO BY: James West/for UNB Athletics