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Huskies offence explodes for 9-5 win over Tigers
Posted: Jan 10, 2026

Huskies offence explodes for 9-5 win over Tigers

Photos Results Box Score
Scoring Summary
1st - 02:14 - Reid Valade (Saint Mary's)
1st - 04:10 - Zak Smith (Dalhousie)
1st - 06:11 - PP - Derek Gentile (Saint Mary's)
1st - 07:26 - PP - Jacob Holmes (Saint Mary's)
2nd - 01:35 - Ben Allison (Saint Mary's)
2nd - 08:01 - Barret Kirwin (Dalhousie)
2nd - 08:14 - Will Chisholm (Saint Mary's)
2nd - 08:54 - Will Chisholm (Saint Mary's)
2nd - 13:02 - PP - Ethan Wongus (Dalhousie)
2nd - 13:27 - Reid Valade (Saint Mary's)
2nd - 13:49 - Charlie Da Fonseca (Saint Mary's)
3rd - 01:13 - Ethan Ritchie (Saint Mary's)
3rd - 12:39 - Paul Hughes (Dalhousie)
3rd - 16:01 - Nicholas Houben (Dalhousie)
Game Leaders
Saint Mary's
G: 2 Players (#5, #71) - 2
A: 4 Players (#12, #25, #27, #61) - 2
Sh: 2 Players (#12, #71) - 6
Sv: Marcus Vandenberg - 26
Dalhousie
G: 5 Players (#19, #21, #44, #78, #91) - 1
A: 3 Players (#12, #19, #22) - 2
Sh: 4 Players (#12, #21, #23, #44) - 4
Sv: Kaiden Kirkwood - 20
Team Stats
Full stats

Saint Mary's forward Reid Valade scored two goals and two assists, leading the Huskies to a 9-5 win over the Dalhousie Tigers in Atlantic University Sport men's hockey action on Saturday night at the Halifax Forum.

The Huskies opened the scoring just two minutes into the action, with a give-and-go from Reid Valade to Ben Allison, with Valade scoring his U SPORTS leading 22nd goal of the season.

Dalhousie was able to equalize minutes later, courtesy forward Zak Smith. Shortly after the goal, the Tigers had another opportunity, resulting in a collision with Huskies netminder Gage Alexander, forcing him to leave the game with injury.

On the ensuing powerplay, Saint Mary's took the lead, with 2024-25 AUS Most Valuable Player Derek Gentile scoring in his highly anticipated return to the Huskies line-up, putting SMU ahead 2-1.

Just over a minute later, Huskies defenceman Jacob Holmes scored a powerplay goal to double the Huskies lead to 3-1.

The Huskies outshot the Tigers 13-7 through the opening frame, and took a 3-1 lead into first intermission. 

Just over a minute into the second period, Ben Allison stole the puck in the Tigers zone and made a nasty deke to beat Kaiden Kirkwood, extending the Huskies lead to 4-1.

Tigers captain Barret Kirwin got one back minutes later, cutting the deficit to 4-2.

But Huskis forward Will Chisholm responded just 13 seconds later, charging down the right wing and flipping a pass that deflected off a Tigers skate and into goal to restore the three goal lead.

Less than a minute later, Chisholm scored again, this time firing a long shot off a drop pass from defenceman Connor Olson that beat Kirkwood high, extending the lead to 6-2 and leading the Tigers to make a goaltending change to Robbie Forbes.

A goal from Tigers forward Ethan Wongus cut the Huskies lead to 6-3, but once again Saint Mary's had a quick response, with Ben Allison finding a streaking Reid Valade who scored his second goal of the night, putting SMU ahead 7-3, 13:27 into the second period.

Less than a minute later, the Huskies scored another one, with Derek Gentile sending captain Charlie Da Fonseca on a partial breakaway, with Da Fonseca breaking out some filthy moves to undress the Tigers defender before finishing with a toe-drag deke over Forbes shoulder to make it 8-3.

The Huskies outshot the Tigers 20-10 in the second period, and took a 8-3 lead into second intermission, 

Saint Mary's final goal of the night came from defenceman Ethan Ritchie, before the Tigers scored two late goals courtesy Paul Hughes and Nicholas Houben to cut the score to 9-5.

Late in the game, tempers flared after another collision with Huskies goaltender Marcus Vandenberg, leading to on-ice fights and several game misconduct penalties for both sides, but cooler heads prevailed and the Huskies finished the night with a 9-5 victory.

The Huskies outshot the Tigers 45-35 in the game, with Marcus Vandenberg stopping 26 shots, in relief of Gage Alexander who turned away four. The Tigers goaltending duo of Kaiden Kirkwood (20 saves) and Robbie Forbes (16 saves) combined for 36 saves on the night.

Reid Valade was named Player of the Game with two goals and two assists, bringing his U SPORTS leading point total to 38 points (23 goals, 15 assists) through 20 games played.

With the win, the Huskies improve to 12-6-0-2 on the season, and clinch a spot in the AUS playoffs. Saint Mary's will host the UPEI Panthers (12-8-0-0) on Friday, Jan. 16 at the Dauphinee Centre. GET TICKETS

The Tigers drop to 1-17-1-1 on the season. Dalhousie will next visit the STFX X-Men on Wednesday, Jan. 14 in Antigonish, N.S.