McGill University Athletics

Led by head coach Peter Smith and team captain Chantal Gauvin, the McGill Martlets cruised through the 2008-09 campaign, posting a single-season school record for wins with a 40-2-0 overall mark. They registered an unblemished 18-0-0 first-place finish in QSSF regular season play, becoming the first team to post back-to-back perfect seasons in Quebec conference history. By season's end, McGill extended their two-year win streak to 54 consecutive contests against Canadian university opponents.

In the best-of-three league semifinals, the Martlets swept Concordia 11-2 and 4-1, then followed that with an easy sweep over Ottawa, winning 7-0 and 7-1 to capture the Ed Enos Trophy as QSSF champions.

At the CIS Final Eight championship tournament in Antigonish, N.S., top-seeded McGill posted a 2-1 overtime win over Manitoba in the quarter-final round, with senior Vanessa Davidson netting the game-winner, on a power-play, only 98 seconds into the extra frame. The next victim was St. Francis Xavier, the hometown team, which fell 5-1 to McGill in the semifinals. Five different players scored for the Martlets, with sophomore Jordanna Peroff receiving credit for the game-winning tally when she put McGill ahead 2-0 at 12:19 of the opening period.

In the national final, McGill's third consecutive CIS gold medal appearance, the Martlets tripled No. 2 seeded Laurier 3-1. Three different scorers found the net for the champs, with sophomore Alessandra Lind-Kenny tallying the Cup-winning goal, which her side a 2-0 lead at 6:29 of the second period. It was her fifth game-winner of the season.

Third-year rearguard Catherine Ward was named Tournament MVP and was joined on the all-tourney team by goaltender Charline Labonté, defender Cathy Chartrand and forward Ann-Sophie Bettez. Two days after winning gold, Ward and Labonté headed overseas to Finland with Team Canada assistant coach Peter Smith to win silver at the 2009 IIHF world championship.

During the regular season, Labonté posted a pristine 15-0 record with nine shutouts and led all CIS netminders in both goals-against average (0.60) and save percentage (.966). She was one of six Martlets to merit conference all-star status, five of them making the first team. Ward and Chartrand on defence were joined by forwards Bettez and Vanessa Davidson on the first team, while freshman Marie-Andrée Leclerc-Auger made the second squad. Bettez was voted as the league's player of the year, while Leclerc-Auger earned both QSSF and CIS rookie-of-the-year honours and Peter Smith was chosen conference coach of the year.

McGill registered a school record five All-Canadians, with Labonté, Ward and Bettez on the first team, while Chartrand and Davidson made the second dream team.

Ward posted an impressive 3-21-24 record in just 14 regular season contests with the Martlets. She led all rearguards across the country in points per game (3.0) and ended up tied for second in total points.

Bettez claimed the conference scoring title and finished second in the nation, establishing single-season league records for goals (24), assists (30) and points (54). Chartrand, who missed three league games while playing for Canada at the world university games in China, led all CIS defencemen in goals with nine. She was joined at the FISU Games by teammates Davidson, Alyssa Cecere and Carly Hill.

The complete McGill team roster, in alphabetical order, was composed of Ann-Sophie Bettez, Julie Casavecchia, Alyssa Cecere (alt. capt.), Cathy Chartrand (alt. capt.), Vanessa Davidson (alt. capt.), Chantal Gauvin (team captain), Caroline Hill,  Charline Labonté, Marie-Andrée Leclerc-Auger, Alessandra Lind-Kenny, Rebecca Martindale, Jordanna Perroff, Shaunn Rabinovich, Jasmine Sheehan, Gabrielle Smith, Lainie Smith, Amy Soberano, Stacie Tardif, Kalie Townsend, Catherine Ward, Alexandra Wells, Vicky Wells and Lisa Zane.

Joining Peter Smith on the coaching staff was Stewart McCarthy and Amey Doyle. Other support staff included Derek Drummond (team advisor), Erika Petosa (equipment manager), Amelie Brais (staff therpist), Vanessa Bouchard (student therapist), Helene Briere (student therapist), Michele Brown (student therapist), Melanie Amann (student therapist) and Vanessa Beaumont (student therapist).