Box Score
MONTREAL - Spencer Pommells of Grande Prairie, Alta., scored in regulation and was the only player to tally in a post-overtime shootout as the visiting Windsor Lancers surprised No.5-ranked McGill 4-3 in men's university hockey at McConnell Arena, Friday.

It spoiled the 137th anniversary of McGill's first game, way back on Jan. 31, 1877, and was only the second home-ice loss of the campaign for the Redmen, who own an imposing  76-14-5 regular-season record over the last seven seasons at McConnell Arena.

"We weren't happy with our first period, didn't have the compete level that we needed to have," said McGill head coach Kelly Nobes, whose troops fell behind 2-0 in the opening frame and outshot Windsor 42-29 over the game. "But our second period was good and we were excellent in the third. Unfortunately we can't take a period off against a good team like Windsor. Their goalie also played extremely well and those two factors were the difference."

Lancers goaltender Parker Van Buskirk, who previously stopped pucks for the OHL's Windsor Spitfires, was stellar between the pipes. The 6-foot, 200-pound senior from Windsor improved to 14-8 after posting 39 saves, including two breakaways. He also turned aside all three Redmen snipers in the shootout.

Cedric McNicoll scored twice in the final stanza for the Redmen, including one on a penalty-shot, but had a last-second goal called back. The accounting major from Longueuil, Que., appeared to complete his hat-trick while notching the game-winner with only 14.5 seconds remaining in the third. His shot handcuffed Van Buskirk, rolled up over the goalie's shoulder and down his back, landing on his back leg padding, which was mostly inside the net. The referee, however, ruled that the puck had not crossed the line. Video replays, which are not used in CIS hockey, later appeared to indicate that the puck was indeed past the goal-line.

"We lost an important point in the standings, not because of that (disputed goal) but because we took 20 minutes off," declared Nobes. "The bottom line is we can't rely on a shootout. If we came out in the first period the way we played the third, we would have won the game."

The Redmen spotted Windsor an early 2-0 first period lead on goals by Pommells and Evan Stibbard, his first of two. That lead held up until the third period, when McGill rallied to outscore the Lancers 3-1. McNicoll scored at 3:07 and after Hibbard struck again, McNicoll potted his second with a penalty-shot at 10:07 to narrow the gap to 3-2. Less than two minutes later, Mathieu Pompei connected to knot the score at 3-3.

McGill rookie netminder Jacob Gervais-Chouinard was credited with 25 saves as his record dropped to 10-4.

The two teams combined for only six infractions, including the penalty shot, which was called when defenceman Kenny Bradford closed his hand on the puck in the Windsor crease. McGill was 0-for-2 on the power-play, while the Lancers went 0-for-3.

The victory for Windsor evened their lifetime record with McGill at 6-6-0, with the Redmen holding a slight 60-58 edge in goals since the teams began playing each other in 1985.

McGill which slipped to second in the OUA East with an 18-5-2 record, will get another crack at Windsor (15-9-0) on Saturday night at 7 p.m.


SOURCE:

Earl Zukerman
McGill Sports Info office
514-398-7012



SCORING SUMMARY
Windsor 4 at McGill 3 (OTS)
(Friday, January 31, 2014 - McConnell Arena)

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

1st Period-
1, Windsor, Spencer Pommells 11 (unassisted), 3:52.
2, Windsor, Evan Stibbard 4 (Beaudoin, Noel), 8:19.

Penalties-Boutet Mcg (charging), 6:06.

2nd Period-
(No Scoring).

Penalties-Crevatin Wsr (tripping), 8:29; Le Sieur Mcg (slashing), 11:40; Palmer Wsr (interference), 16:05; McKiernan Mcg (slashing), 20:00.

3rd Period-
3, McGill, Cedric McNicoll 9 (Rose, Barnard), 3:07.
4, Windsor, Evan Stibbard 5 (Beaudoin, Noel), 9:47.
5, McGill, Cedric McNicoll 10 (penalty shot), 10:30
6, McGill, Mathieu Pompei 8 (Gelinas, Prokop), 12:12.

Penalties-Bradford Wsr (penalty shot awarded for closing hand on puck), 10:30.

OVERTIME-
(No Scoring).

Penalties-
(No Penalties)

Shootout -
Windsor 1 (Spencer Pommells GOAL, Stibbard NG, Christou NG),
McGill 0 (McNicoll NG, Carrier NG, Gelinas NG).

Shots on Goal-
Windsor 6-9-12-1-1 -- 29.
McGill 11-16-12-3-0 -- 42.

Power Play Opportunities-
Windsor 0 / 3;
McGill 0 / 2.

PENALTY SHOT:

Goalies-
Windsor, Peter Van Buskirk (W, 14-8-0, 42 shots-39 saves; 65:00).
McGill, Jacob Gervais-Chouinard (L, 10-4-0, 28 shots-25 saves; 65:00).

Attendance: 522
Start: 7:02 PM
End: 9:25 PM
Length: 2:23

Referees-Benoit Lessard, Jonathan Alarie.
Linesmen-Jean-Francois Losier, Benoit Sansoucy.

MOLSON CUP THREE STARS
1. WSR - 15 Evan Stibbard
2. MCG - 11 Cedric McNicoll
3. WSR - 29 Parker Van Buskirk