TORONTO - Joe Rand, a fifth-year senior from Hamilton, Ont., scored shorthanded midway through the final period as the Toronto Varsity Blues took advantage of a depleted McGill lineup and rallied with three unanswered goals in the final period to upset the fifth-ranked Redmen in men's hockey at Varsity Arena, Saturday.

The result snapped McGill's win streak at five games and dropped their record to 10-2 in OUA play. The U of T victory avenged their 5-0 loss at McConnell Arena on Nov. 8 and snapped a four-game losing streak to McGill.

Blues captain Brendan Sherrard opened up the scoring 4:32 into the game as he came out of the penalty box, picked up a loose puck and found himself all alone with McGill goaltender Hubert Morin. The Etobicoke, Ont., native fired a hard snapshot past Morin into the back of the net.

The Redmen led 2-1 after the opening period and had jumped into a 3-1 lead by the midway mark of the middle stanza on goals by centre Simon Marcotte-Légaré of Longueuil, Que., defenceman Yan Turcotte of Laval, Que., and centre Alexandre Picard-Hooper of Boucherville, Que.

But the Blues came to life in the second stanza, failing to score but outshooting McGill 16-3 in the period. In the final frame, U of T was sparked by two goals in 40 seconds.

Centre Robert Kay of Orono, Ont., narrowed the gap to 3-2 on the power-play at 7:28 and Joel Lenius from Markham, Ont., evened the scoreboard at 3-3 with his marker at 8:08 to set the stage for Rand's heroics.

After Rand's go-ahead goal, the Blues ran into some penalty trouble and found themselves down 5-on-3 for 36 seconds. Toronto stood tall and played some solid defence, keeping McGill forwards to the outside and blocking numerous point shots to walk away with their first win in six games.

Blues goaltender Andrew Martin, a junior from Mississauga, made 27 saves and improved his record to 5-4-1.

It was the first loss of the season for McGill's Morin, a sophomore from St. George de Beauce, Que., who was credited with 33 saves and fell to 7-1.

Already short two forwards lost during the previous night's 7-2 win over Nipissing in North Bay, the Redmen suffered two more casualties during the game with U of T.

Sophomores Andrew Wright and Maxime Langelier-Parent suffered facial lacerations on the same second-period shift and were sent to the hospital for stitches. Francis Verreault-Paul, the team's scoring leader who was cut for five stitches from a cross-check received the previous night, sat out the U of T contest while serving an automatic one-game suspension in the wake of a fighting major. Also scratched was rookie Patrick Belzile with an upper body injury.

Three games into a nine-game road trip, McGill returns to Toronto next weekend to close out the first semester with a pair of rare back-to-back affairs against Ryerson at George T. Bell Arena on Dec. 4 (7:30 p.m.) and Dec. 5 (2 p.m.).

REDMEN RAP: Yan Turcotte, a fifth-year senior who has already surpassed his previous single-season best in goals and points, is the third-leading rearguard in the OUA with 6-8-14 in 12 games... Teammate Marc-André Dorion, who had a pro try-out with the NHL's Dallas Stars last year, sits second among OUA blueliners with a 4-11-15 record, one point behind York's Kyle Searle who has 1-15-16 in three more games played... In a rivalry that dates back a century to their first meeting in 1899, the Varsity Blues lead the lifetime series with a 119-79-15 record overall against McGill... However, since 1985, the Redmen have owned U of T with a 32-18-5 head-to-head record.

SCORING SUMMARY

McGill 3 at Toronto 4

(Nov 28, 2009 - Varsity Arena)

1st Period-
1, Toronto, Brendan Sherrard 1 (B. Elliott, J. Lenius), 4:32.
2, McGill, Simon Marcotte-Legare 4 (Vossen, G.Doucet), 8:39.
3, McGill, Yan Turcotte 6 (S. Marcotte-Legare, G. Doucet), 14:17 (pp).

Penalties-
Sherrard Tor (hooking), 2:25;
Dupont Tor (interference), 13:50;
Boisvert Mcg (elbowing), 15:09.

2nd Period-
4, McGill, Alexandre Picard-Hooper 5 (G. Tindle, T. Drager), 11:03.

Penalties-
Lenius Tor (slashing), 1:48;
Cowdrey Tor (high sticking), 15:22;
Turcotte Mcg (tripping), 16:04;
Doucet Mcg (slashing), 19:07.

3rd Period-
5, Toronto, Robert Kay 9 (B. Teich, A. Kizito), 7:28 (pp).
6, Toronto, Joel Lenius 3 (E. Snetsinger, B. Sherrard), 8:08.
7, Toronto, Joe Rand 3 (unassisted)  11:34 (sh).

Penalties-
Drager Mcg (hooking), 5:44;
Elliott Tor (tripping), 9:41;
Kliewer Tor (roughing), 15:11;
Elliott Tor (interference), 16:35.

GOALS BY PERIOD:
McGill 2-1-0 -- 3
Toronto 1-0-3 -- 4

SHOTS BY PERIOD:
McGill 13-3-14-30.
Toronto 11-16-10-37.

POWER PLAY OPPORTUNITIES-
McGill 1 of 7 (plus 1 SHG against);
Toronto 1 of 4.


GOALTENDERS-

McGill,
Hubert Morin (L, 7-1-0, 37 shots-33 saves. 59:13);
Empty-net (0 goals; 0:47).

Toronto,
Jeff Martin (W, 5-4-1, 30 shots-27 saves; 60:00).

START: 7:34 pm

FINISH: 940 pm

ATTENDANCE-350


REFEREE-Ed Munroe.


MOLSON CUP THREE STARS

1. Jeff Martin, Toronto
2. Simon Marcotte-Legare, McGill
3. Maxime Langelier-Parent, McGill

SOURCE:

Earl Zukerman

McGill Athletics & Recreation

514-398-7012