The University of Saskatchewan Huskies fell to the University of Moncton Blue Eagles 5-1 today in their first round-robin game of the Canadian Inuteruniversity Sport men’s hockey national championships in Fredericton, N.B.

Saskatchewan’s fast speed caught Moncton by surprise early in the game as Huskies defenceman Matthew Delahey scored only 2:08 into the first period.

Once the Blue Eagles were able to regroup, however, Moncton ran away with the game.

Eric Faille of the Eagles tied the game up midway through the first period with a shorthanded marker. Four minutes later, Samuel Grouix added Moncton’s second goal.

The Blue Eagles pulled the game even further apart late in the second after Keven Charlan fed a hard pass from the corner of the Huskies zone to Francis Rochon, who was parked in the slot. Rochon one-timed the puck past Saskatchewan netminder David Reekie.

Simon Lacroix added Moncton’s fourth goal six minutes into the third while Faille added his second with only 31 seconds remaining in the game to finalize the 5-1 victory for his squad.

Blue Eagles goaltender Pierre-Alexandre Marion stopped 20 of the Huskies’ 21 shots and was named the game’s first all-star for his performance. Reekie stopped 25 of 30 shots.

Saskatchewan will face the McGill University Redmen tomorrow in their second game of the round robin. McGill downed Moncton 6-3 on Thursday and, with a win against the Huskies, will finish first in the three-team pool – the three teams being Saskatchewan, Moncton and McGill.

The other pool consists of the University of New Brunswick Varsity Reds, the University of Western Ontario Mustangs and the University of Quebec at Trois-Rivieres Patriotes.

The winners of each pool will play in the final on Sunday for the University Cup.

Saskatchewan can only finish first in their pool if they beat McGill by more than 5 goals as the higher goals-for-and-against difference determines which team moves on in the event that all three squads have the same win-loss record after round-robin play.

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Image: CIS