(PHOTO OF CHRISTOPHE LONGPRE-POIRIER BY ANDREW
DOBROWOLSKYJ)
STE. ANNE DE BELLEVUE, Que. - Christophe
Longpre-Poirier, a sophomore from Longueuil, Que., scored
twice as the No.2-ranked McGill Redmen hockey team handed the
visiting Ryerson Rams a 6-2 setback at McGill's Macdonald campus
arena in suburban Montreal, Friday.
The victory gave McGill a two-game sweep over the Rams and
extended their unblemished record to 17-0 overall - including
a 12-0 mark in league play - which ties a 74-year-old school record
for the longest win streak in team history, dating back to the
1936-37 season. It was also McGill's fifth straight win over the
Rams and the 18th conquest in their last 19 head-to-head
meetings.
Longpre-Poirier effectively put the game on ice in the middle
period when his back -to-back markers at 4:05 and 15:44 turned a
4-2 lead into an insurmountable 6-2 margin and the Redmen focussed
on stifling the Rams the rest of the way.
McGill had opened the scoring only two minutes into the game on
a blueline blast from Neil Blunden, a rookie
rearguard from Montreal, who has only dressed in four of the team's
12 league games. He also added an assist on the last goal of the
game to register his first two points in a McGill jersey and
merited mention among the game's three stars.
"Blunden played a solid game tonight and it paid off with his
first career goal," said Kelly Nobes, head coach
of the Redmen. "He's been a real pleasant surprise and given us
great depth on defence."
Rounding out the scoring for McGill was senior Guillaume
Doucet of Anjou, Que., who netted his fifth goal of the
campaign, on the power-play, junior Alex
Picard-Hooper (4th) of Boucherville, Que., and
All-Canadian defenceman Marc-Andre Dorion of St.
Hubert, Que.
Replying for the Rams was David Harris (6th), a
freshman from Waterloo, Ont., and rookie Travis
Dunstall (3rd) of Onoway, Alta.
McGill outshot Ryerson 43-30, including a 22-8 margin in the
first period. Redmen goalkeeper Hubert Morin of
St. Georges de Beauce, Que., made 28 saves and improved his record
to 8-0, with a 2.10 goals-against average and a .913 save
percentage. Louie George of Waterloo, Ont., kicked
aside 37 shots as his record dropped to 1-4.
Despite missing the services of CIS goal-scoring leader
Francis Verreault-Paul this week, who has gone
home for a family funeral, the Redmen still managed to tally 11
goals in their two-game sweep over Ryerson, a team that was ranked
No. 8 in Canada a few weeks ago. Eight different Redmen scored and
11 players registered assists.
"We played two solid games against a much-improved Ryerson
team," said Nobes. "It was good to see different guys contribute
offensively this week. That's something we're going to need down
the road."
Ryerson (4-9), which has dropped eight straight games, will head
back to southern Ontario for games at Waterloo, Nov. 19-20. McGill
(12-0) also heads in that direction and will play at York (4-7-0)
and Brock (3-4-3), on the same dates.
REDMEN RAP: McGill, which leads the CIS in scoring with 75
markers, has scored five goals (or more) in 10 of their 12 league
games to date... With 75 goals for and 25 against, McGill's
plus-50 differential is tops in the nation... Western is a distant
second at +31 and No.3-ranked UNB is next at +30... Dorion is third
in the league scoring race and remains the top-scoring rearguard in
the nation with a 6-19-25 record in 12 games... Picard-Hooper leads
the league with 20 assists and sits fourth among OUA scoring
leaders with a 4-20-24 dossier in 12 games. In 68 career OUA
contests, he has posted an impressive a 25-84-109 record.
SCORING SUMMARY
Ryerson 2 at McGill 6
(Friday, November 12, 2010 - Macdonald Arena)
1st Period-
1, McGill, Neil Blunden 1 (P. Belzile, E. Vossen),
2:10.
2, McGill, Guillaume Doucet 5 (M.A. Dorion, A.
Wright), 4:40 (PP).
3, Ryerson, David Harris 6 (A. Buck, A. Sharpe),
7:40.
4, McGill, Alex Picard-Hooper 4 (V. Bourgeois, A.
Wright), 8:00.
5, Ryerson, Travis Dunstall 3 (M. Schmermund, T.
Murray), 11:10.
6, McGill, Marc-Andre Dorion 6 (M.
Langelier-Parent, B. Levesque), 19:22.
Penalties-
George Rye (delay of game, served by David Harris), 3:34;
Camalleri Rye (hooking), 8:49.
2nd Period-
7, McGill, Christophe Longpre-Poirier 3 (N.
Biniek, J.F. Boisvert), 4:05.
8, McGill, Christophe Longpre-Poirier 4 (J.F.
Boisvert, N. Blunden), 15:44.
Penalties-
Dunstall Rye (unsportsmanlike cnd.), 4:05;
Blunden Mcg (hooking), 16:00;
Doucet Mcg (tripping), 18:47.
3rd Period-
(No Scoring).
Penalties-
Longpre-Poirier Mcg (slashing), 6:15.
GOALS BY PERIOD:
Ryerson 2-0-0 -- 2
McGill 4-2-0 -- 6
Shots on Goal-
Ryerson 8-14-8 -- 30.
McGill 22-11-10 -- 43.
Power Play Opportunities-
Ryerson 0 / 3;
McGill 1 / 3.
Penalties-
Ryerson 3 / 6;
McGill 3 / 6.
Goalies-
Ryerson, Louie George (L, 1-4-0, 43 shots-37
saves; 60:00).
McGill, Hubert Morin (W, 8-0-0, 30 shots-28
saves; 60:00).
Att-212
Referee-Dominic Bedard.
Start: 7:01 pm
Finish: 9:06 pm
Length: 2:05
MOLSON CUP THREE STARS:
1. Christophe Longpre-Poirier, McGill
2. Neil Blunden, McGill
3. Hubert Morin, McGill