Men's Hockey 3/4/2011 12:00:00 PM

Pats answer back, give Redmen heart-attack; Rubber match set for Sunday at 7 pm

TROIS-RIVIERES -- Jeff Desjardins tallied twice and Olivier Donovan added three helpers as eighth-ranked UQTR upset No.2-McGill 6-1 at Le Colisee, Friday, to even the best-of-three OUA Eastern final men's hockey series at 1-1.

It marked the Pats first post-season victory over McGill since 2005, snapping a nine-game losing streak in head-to-head playoff confrontations.

McGill, which had a 30-26 edge in shots on net and a 78-54 margin in total shots attempted, thoroughly dominated the opening period with a 12-7 edge in shots. But it was the Patriotes who headed into the intermission with a 1-0 lead on Desjardin's first marker at 12:37.

"We came out strong to start but our execution wasn't where it needed to be," said Redmen mentor Kelly Nobes. "As the game wore on, we didn't battle hard enough for loose pucks and we failed to maintain our discipline. UQTR was very opportunistic tonight and got the bounces, so it was kind of a perfect storm for them and the opposite for us. We will need to bring our game up to another level in order to win the series on Sunday."

Pierre-Alexandre Joncas and Emmanuel Boudreau gave the Pats a 3-0 advantage, scoring at 1:35 and 7:01 of the middle stanza but McGill replied 83 seconds later when Francis Verreault-Paul pounced on his own rebound to give the Redmen some life with his fifth of the playoffs.

However, the wheels came off for good when Etienne Bellavance-Martin beat sophomore goaltender Hubert Morin at 12:41 of the middle frame to make it 4-1. After Felix Petit upped the count to 5-1 midway through the final stanza, Morin was replaced by freshman goalie Antoine Tardif, who was making his first appearance since a 4-0 loss at Carleton on Jan. 29.

Morin was saddled with his first loss in five playoff starts, conceding five goals on 21 shots. Tardif kicked aside four of five shots over the final 10 minutes and 21 seconds. He was only beaten by Desjardins, who netted his second of the game with just under five minutes remaining.

The rubber match will take place on Sunday at McConnell Arena, where the Redmen own an unblemished 20-0 record overall this season. The game is slated for a 7 p.m. puck drop and a capacity crowd is expected. At stake is a berth in the OUA Queen's Cup championship game in addition to a guaranteed spot at the CIS championships, to be played in Fredericton later this month.

SCORING SUMMARY

(OUA EAST BEST OF THREE FINAL, GAME 2; Series tied at 1-1)

McGill 1 at UQTR 6

(Friday, March 4, 2011 - Le Colisee)

1st Period-
1, UQTR, Jeff Desjardins 2 (Felix Petit, Olivier Donovan), 12:37.

Penalties-
Picard-Hooper Mcg (hooking), 7:10;
Charland Uqtr (slashing), 16:48.

2nd Period-
2, UQTR, Pierre-Alexandre Joncas 6 (J.S. Breton, Guillaume Chicoine), 1:35.
3, UQTR, Emmanuel Boudreau 1 (Alexandre Demers, Francis Charland), 7:01.
4, McGill, Francis Verreault-Paul 5 (Andrew Wright, Alex Picard-Hooper), 8:24.
5, UQTR, Etienne Bellavance-Martin 6 (J.S. Breton, Pierre-Alexandre Joncas), 12:41.

Penalties-
Robichaud Uqtr (hooking), 18:54.

3rd Period-
6, UQTR, Petit 7 (Donovan), 9:39.
7, UQTR, Desjardins 3 (Donovan, Lessard), 15:22.

Penalties-
Doucet Mcg (roughing), 10:30;
Verreault-Paul Mcg (roughing), 12:06;
Laroche Uqtr (roughing), 18:53;
Wright Mcg (slashing), 19:16.