Box Score

Jan. 4, 2013 - 7:00 PM

Martlet Hockey at Yale (Away)

NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Chelsey Saunders of Ottawa tallied twice, while linemates Leslie Oles and Katia Clement-Heydra each chalked up three points as the McGill women's hockey team tripled Yale 3-1 in exhibition play, Friday, at Ingalls Rink.

It was McGill's 14th straight victory and their second consecutive conquest against an NCAA opponent this season after losing their first six attempts. The Martlets, who led 1-0 after one period and 2-1 after two, had a 24-18 edge in shots.

Oles, a junior from Beaconsfield, Que., had a goal and two assists, while Clement-Heydra, a  third-year forward from St. Bruno, Que., posted three helpers.

"It was a good game for us," said McGill head coach Peter Smith. "That was our fourth game since the month-long break (for exams and holidays) but our first full 60-minute effort. Chelsea has been playing great and fit in nicely on our top line (which was missing sniper Melodie Daoust)."

McGill, which is ranked No. 1 in the CIS Top 10 with an 11-0 record in league play, started the scoring just 29 seconds in with a goal by Saunders, a senior from Ottawa, who converted a pass from Oles and fired a wrist shot on the short side from the right faceoff circle. The Martlets appeared to extend their lead seven minutes later when Oles re-directed a shot from Clement-Heydra in the crease. But just before the ensuing faceoff at centre-ice, the Bulldogs challenged the play and after a brief delay to review the video replay, the goal was ruled to have been kicked in and was disallowed.

Spared the 2-0 deficit, the Bulldogs had a number of chances to tie the game with good chances from the freshman duo of Janelle Ferrara and Jamie Haddad. With six minutes to play, Ferrara took a pass from senior Danielle Moncion in the left circle and got the puck across to Haddad at the far post, but she was unable to poke it in. In the final minute of the period, that same pair had a 2-on-1 but Haddad's attempt to stuff in a pass from Ferrara was denied by McGill goalie Taylor Salisbury. Yale sophomore netminder Jaimie Leonoff then finished off the period with a glove save on forward Katia Clement-Heydra with seven seconds left.

Senior goaltender Erin Callahan came on to play the second period, and was saddled with the loss. Senior defenceman Jamie Gray scored the Bulldogs' lone goal three minutes into the second, assisted by sophomore Stephanie Mock and senior  Natalie Wedell.

The Bulldogs had to kill off their first penalty right after the goal, and a couple clears early on by Moncion helped prevent the Martlets from setting up their power play.

McGill re-took the lead at 2-1 with just 1:37 left in the period with a snipe by Oles that hit inside the net and bounced out immediately, creating momentary confusion before the officials ruled that the goal was good.

Callahan came right back with a save on forward Kim Ton-That from right in front, but the Martlets took their 2-1 lead into the final period.

Freshman goalie Rachelle Graham came on to play the third. She was tested immediately and made a nice save with her leg on a shot by the hard-charging Oles.

Defenceman Aurora Kennedy, coming off a three-assist game in Yale's last outing before the holiday break, generated two great scoring chances early in the final stanza. After her initial shot was saved by Salisbury, she stayed with the play and got off another shot that hit the post.

The Martlets eventually extended the lead to 3-1 at the 6:23 mark when Saunders connected for a second time with her ninth of the season in 27 games overall. She sneaked into the slot and converted a nifty behind-the-back, blind pass from Oles, who was near the left side of the net.

Yale's best chance to get back in the game came on a power play with five minutes to play, but Salisbury made two saves on shots by freshman rearguard Kate Martini and another one from Martini went wide.

Salisbury, a senior from Surrey, B.C.,  finished with 17 saves and collected the victory, improving to 10-2-0 overall. Callahan made 11 saves and took the loss (1-4-1), while Graham and Leonoff had five saves each.

Yale, which dropped to 2-12-1 overall, returns to action on Saturday at 4 p.m., with a home game vs. Providence, while the Martlets (19-8-0) will play the Quinnipiac University Bobcats (12-7-2) at 7 p.m. in Hamden, Conn., located 90 minutes north of New York City.

MARTLETS MURMURS: Melodie Daoust, who is currently playing for the Canadian under-22 team at the Meco Cup tournament in Germany, had two assists in an 8-1 rout over Germany in an exhibition game on Jan. 2. She also registered an assist in Canada's tourney-opening 4-0 victory over Switzerland on Jan. 3.


Report by Earl Zukerman (McGill) and Sam Rubin (Yale).

SCORING SUMMARY

McGill 3 at Yale 1 (EXHIBITION)
Friday, January 4, 2013 - (Ingalls Arena)

GOALS BY PERIOD:
McGill 1 1 1 - 3
Yale    0 1 0 - 1

1st Period-
1, McGill, Saunders 4 (Oles, Clement-Heydra), 0:29.

Penalties-Oles Mcg (interference), 8:01.

2nd Period-
2, Yale, Gray 1 (Mock, Wedell), 3:03.
3, McGill, Oles 11 (Clement-Heydra, Daigneault), 18:23.

Penalties-Martini Yale (cross checking), 3:44.

3rd Period-
4, McGill, Saunders 5 (Oles, Clement-Heydra), 6:23 (PP).

Penalties-Decker Yale (tripping), 5:09; Pohlod Mcg (bodychecking), 14:46.

Shots on Goal-McGill 6-12-6-24. Yale 6-2-10-18.

Power Play Opportunities-McGill 1 / 2; Yale  0 / 2.

GOALIES-

McGill,
Taylor Salisbury W, 10-2-0 (18 shots-17 saves; 60:00).

Yale,
Jamie Leonoff (START; 6 shots-5 saves; 20:00);
RachelleCallahan L, 1-4-1 (12 shots-11 saves; 20:00);
Erin Graham (6 shots-5 saves; 18:27).
EMPTY-NET: 0 GA; 1:33

Attendance: 118

Start: 7:01 PM

End: 8:50 PM

Length: 1:49

Referees-Derek Zuckerman, Mark Andrews.

Linesmen-Nate Turner, Chad Gouin.

THREE STARS:
1. MCG - 12 Chelsey Saunders
2. MCG - 4 Leslie Oles
3. MCG - 19 Katia Clement-Heydra