Silver linings: Patriotes edge Huskies 3-2 in overtime thriller for U CUP championship

(HALIFAX, N.S.) Félix Lafrance added another chapter to a family and program legacy Sunday, scoring at 14:23 of overtime to lift the UQTR Patriotes to a 3-2 victory over the Saint Mary's Huskies in the championship game of the 2026 U SPORTS University Cup at Scotiabank Centre.

In front of a crowd of 7,386 — the largest attendance for a University Cup final since 2016, also held in Halifax — Lafrance delivered the latest in a string of dramatic finishes for the Patriotes. UQTR hoisted the David Johnston University Cup for the sixth time, with the last three titles decided in overtime. Marc-Étienne Hubert, now UQTR's head coach, scored the winner in 2001. Simon Lafrance did so in 2022, and his younger brother Félix added his name to the list in 2026.

Lafrance, named UQTR's player of the game, capped a two-point performance by finishing a crisp passing play from Conor Frenette and Christophe Rondeau. His shot beat Huskies goaltender Marcus Vandenberg and sparked a jubilant celebration for the orange-clad Patriotes.

The Huskies set the tone early, with Liam Arnsby and Ben Boyd laying several big hits, energizing the home crowd of over 7,386 fans.

With defenceman Ethan Ritchie banking a pass off the boards right to forward Jake Uberti who broke out on goal and lifted a forehand shot over the shoulder of Patriotes netminder William Grimard to give Saint Mary's an early 1-0 lead, 1:30 into regulation.

The Huskies had another outstanding chance minutes later, as forward Derek Gentile deked past a defender at the blueline and lifted a shot but Grimard made a great save to keep the Patriotes within a goal.

SMU continued to win puck battles and set a physical tone, as the team exchanged several penalties in the opening frame, but Grimard and Huskies goaltender Marcus Vandenberg were both sharp in nets, making several quality saves.

The Patriotes outshot the Huskies 15-14 through the opening 20 minutes, but it was the hosts that took a 1-0 lead into first intermission.

Nearly seven minutes into the second period, UQTR equalized as forward Pier-Olivier Roy was able to stuff in a puck through a scramble of bodies in the crease to tie it at 1-1, 6:49 into the second.

But just over a minute later, the Huskies took the lead again, with U SPORTS second team All-Canadian Reid Valade feeding linemate Ben Allison, who pulled of a sweet toe-drag move past a defendehis own and was able to stuff in a rebound to put the hosts ahead 2-1, 8:16 into the period.

With just over a minute remaining in the period, the Patriotes tied it up, as Saint Mary's turned it over in the neutral zone and the UQTR counterattack saw a give-and-go between Charles Beaudoin and Felix Lafrance, with Beaudoin finishing it to tie the game at 2-2, 18:47 into the second period.

Saint Mary's outshot UQTR 11-5 in the second period, taking a 25-20 advantage for the game, but the two teams went into second intermission deadlocked at 2-2.

The Patriotes got an extended powerplay opportunity to begin the third period, as Huskies forward Will Chisholm was given a four minute penalty for kneeing, but Saint Mary's were able to kill off the dangerous UQTR powerplay, thanks largely to a tremendous blocked shot from defenceman Ethan Ritchie, and solid positional saves from Vandenberg.

Vandenberg continued his outstanding play, robbing Beaudoin on a backdoor feed to keep the game tied. The rookie netminder continued to be calm under pressure, making a huge save on a point-blank shot from Patriotes forward Kassim Gaudet.

The intensity of a do-or-die final was palpable, as neither team wanted to make a mistake over the final few minutes of regulation, and no mistakes were made - just exhillirating, end-to-end action, with great blocked shots and goaltending from Vandenberg and Grimard, and regulation solved nothing as the two opponents would decide the U Cup Champion in overtime.

Saint Mary's outshot UQTR 11-7 in the third period, and took a 36-27 advantage into sudden-death OT.

The first few minutes of overtime were William Grimard's time to stand on his head, making several greats saves, especially an absolutely robbery of Ethan Ritchie with a glove save off of a rebound. The Huskies continued to generate great scoring chances, outshooting the Patriotes 11-6 in the overtime frame.

But in a sudden-death overtime, all it takes is one shot to win, and that shot came courtesy Patriotes forward Felix Lafrance, as off of a face-off win in the Huskies zone, Lafrance fired a harmless looking wrister from the blueline that took a funny bounce and beat Vandenberg for the overtime winning goal.

Goaltender William Grimard was outstanding for UQTR, turning aside 45 shots as Saint Mary's outshot the Patriotes 47-33.

After a tense extra frame, Lafrance sealed the championship, adding another chapter to UQTR's storied history — one that often takes extra time to complete.

Frenette, who assisted on the winner, was named tournament MVP, joining teammates Grimard and Loris Rafanomezantsoa on the tournament all-star team. Ethan Ritchie and Ben Allison of Saint Mary's, along with Cody Morgan of UNB, rounded out the all-star selections.

The Patriotes will look to defend their title on home ice next year, as the 2027 U SPORTS University Cup is set for the Colisée Videotron in Trois-Rivières next March.

NIKE TEAM PLAYERS OF THE GAME
UQTR: Félix Lafrance
Saint Mary's: Ben Allison

MAJOR W.J. (DANNY) McLEOD AWARD (Championship MVP)
Conor Frenette, UQTR

TOURNAMENT ALL-STAR TEAM
G: William Grimard, UQTR
D: Loris Rafanomezantsoa, UQTR
D: Ethan Ritchie, Saint Mary's
F: Ben Allison, Saint Mary's
F: Conor Frenette, UQTR
F: Cody Morgan, UNB

Source: Allan April, Saint Mary's Huskies Communications