Box Score
WATERLOO, Ont -- Cedric McNicoll of Boucherville, Que., tallied twice as No.8-ranked McGill snapped a two-game losing streak with a 6-2 come-from-behind rout over Wilfrid Laurier University in OUA men's hockey at Sun Life Arena, Sunday.

It avenged a 4-3 loss to the Golden Hawks last season, snapped a three-game losing streak to WLU, dating back to the 2006 season and improved McGill's lifetime record to 12-11-1 against the 'Hawks since they first met in the 1960s.

More importantly, the result was the first win of the new year for McGill, which had dropped their last two games -- to UQTR and Waterloo.

The 'Hawks, who lost for the sixth straight outing, scored first and led again at 2-1 when Taylor D'Andrea of Hamilton, Ont., potted his first two markers of the season.

But McNicoll, a former American Hockey League player who was voted an OUA all-star last season, countered with a pair of his own. He tied the score 1-1 at 8:53 of the first period and put the Redmen ahead 3-2 on a power-play at 4:21 of the middle stanza, with his ninth of the season, which proved to be the winning goal. The third-year management major is now tied for third in the OUA scoring race with 28 points in 18 contests.

Sparked by forward David Rose, a third-year centre from Longueuil, Que., who had three points on the night, including his team-leading 10th of the season, the Redmen scored five unanswered goals. Other marksmen were freshman Alexandre Lemieux of St. Basile le Grand, Que., junior Max Le Sieur of Montreal and Guillaume Langelier-Parent, a civil engineering senior from Lery, Que.

The Redmen had a 37-25 edge in shots on goal, including an 18-5 margin in the middle frame. Winning goaltender Jacob Gervais-Chouinard of Sherbrooke, Que., made 23 saves and improved his record to 8-3-0. The 6-foot-1, 171-pound economics sophomore leads all OUA goalies with a sparkling .938 save percentage and ranks second in goals-against average (1.92).

Laurier netminder Vinny Merante, a sophomore from Niagara Falls, N.Y., registered 33 saves in his second start of the season and took the loss.

McGill shone on special teams, going 1-for-4 on the power-play and erasing all six shorthanded situations. The Redmen lead all 19 OUA teams in penalty-killing with an 88.5 per cent success rate (85/96). Their power-play is ranked eighth at 18.9 per cent.

With the loss Laurier drops to 5-13-1 and sits four points behind Toronto for the final playoff spot in the OUA West division. The 'Hawks return to the ice on Friday when they head to Kingston to take on Queen's.

The Redmen who have clinched a playoff berth for the 11th consecutive season, have nine games remaining before post-season play. They sit third in the OUA East with a 14-5-0 record, only two points behind division-leading UQTR (14-2-2) and the Carleton Ravens (15-4-0). McGill will host the Ravens in a key match-up for the annual Management Winter Carnival Game on Friday. A capacity crowd is expected.

COMPLETE BOXSCORE

SCORING SUMMARY
McGill 6 at Laurier 2
(Sunday, January 11, 2015 - Sun Life Arena @ Waterloo Recreation Complex)

GOALS BY PERIOD:
McGill 2-3-1-- 6
Laurier 2-0-0 -- 2

1st Period-
1, Laurier, Taylor D'Andrea 1 (Stothers, Provost), 3:50.
2, McGill, Cedric McNicoll 8 (Delisle-Houde), 8:53.
3, Laurier, Taylor D'Andrea 2 (Webley, Chore), 10:59.
4, McGill, Alexandre Lemieux 2 (Rose, Boutet), 14:23.

Penalties-Merante Wlu (delay of game), 9:40; Gervais-Chouinard Mcg (interference), 10:55.

2nd Period-
5, McGill, Cedric McNicoll 9 (Rose, Labrecque), 4:21 (PP).
6, McGill, David Rose 10 (unassisted), 13:13.
7, McGill, Max Le Sieur 6 (Monast, Vachon), 17:15.

Penalties-Braid Wlu (cross checking), 4:06; Lemieux Mcg (slashing), 5:30; Pompei Mcg (unsportsmanlike cnd.), 14:24; Morrison Wlu (unsportsmanlike cnd.), 14:24.

3rd Period-
8, McGill, Guillaume Langelier-Parent 2 (Brunelle, Poulin), 2:37.

Penalties-Pompei Mcg (hooking), 0:59; Lopes Wlu (unsportsmanlike cnd.), 1:26; Monast Mcg (interference), 2:59; Levesque Mcg (high sticking), 8:13; Rush Wlu (checking to the head, 10-minute misconduct), 12:08; Delisle-Houde Mcg (slashing), 15:06.

Shots on Goal-
McGill 11-20-8 -- 39.
Laurier 10-5-10 -- 25.

Power Play Opportunities-
McGill 1 / 4;
Laurier 0 / 6.

Goalies-
McGill, Jacob Gervais-Chouinard (W, 8-3-0, 25 shots-23 saves; 60:00).
Laurier, Vinny Merante (L, 0-1-0, 37 shots-31 saves; 60:00).

Attendance: 100
Start: 7:39 PM
End: 9:50 PM
Length: 2:11

Referees-Korey Bannerman, Pat Myers.
Linesmen-Ryan Card, Dave Angus.

THREE STARS:
1. MCG - 11 Cedric McNicoll
2. WLU - 25 Taylor D'Andrea
3. MCG - 7 David Rose