Box Score
MONTREAL -- Ariane Barker scored twice and added an assist as the Universite de Montreal capitalized on a number of McGill mistakes and outlasted the No.2-ranked Martlets 6-4 in a high-scoring showdown between the top two ranked teams in CIS women's hockey at McConnell Arena, Sunday.

It was the second straight head-to-head victory for the No.1-ranked Carabins after a 3-0 loss at McGill in the season opener. The teams also crossed paths in a preseason matchup at the Queen's tourney, where the Martlets claimed a 3-2 victory in overtime. McGill's lifetime record against their bitter archrivals is now at 34-9-0 overall, including a 16-5-0 mark on home ice.

"We played a good game but our mistakes really hurt us today," said McGill head coach Peter Smith. "We'd turn the puck over in their end and (then) give up an odd-man rush coming back our way. We need to continue to pay attention to the little details. Sometimes you play games where you make a mistake and it doesn't cost you. But when you play a good team like that, mistakes can cost you and that's what happened today... This type of game will serve as a good barometer for us. There's some stuff that we will continue to work on."

The game was a see-saw affair that resulted in a 2-2 tie after the opening period and the teams were again deadlocked, at 3-3, after two.

Jessica Cormier also tallied twice for the Carabins, including the game-winner with 7:16 remaining in the final period. Other UdeM singles were scored by Audrey Gariepy and Josianne Legault.

McGill's big guns, Gabrielle Davidson and Leslie Oles, had given the Martlets respective 1-0 and 2-1 leads with both of them notching their league-leading 11th goals of the season. When Gariepy finally put the Carabins ahead 3-2 at 4:38 of the middle session, McGill freshman Alexandria Serpico knotted the score again 10 minutes later, sending the teams into the final stanza dead even.

Montreal moved ahead 5-3 on third-period goals by Legault and Cormier but McGill narrowed the gap when Stefanie Pohlod struck for her sixth. The Martlets pulled their goalie in the final minute but that move backfired when Barker found the empty net with her 12th marker of the campaign, to wrestle away the league lead in goals from Davidson and Oles.

As anticipated, the game was an intense affair, one that featured 30 minutes in penalties. What was not expected was that the Martlets, who were ranked as the second least penalized team in the nation -- 32nd of 33 teams in PIMs before the game -- would be whistled for the lion's share with 22 minutes. Oles, an all-star marksman who was harrassed relentlessly by the Carabins, retaliated on a number of perceived infractions and ended up spending 16 minutes in the sin-bin, including a 10-minute misconduct, which put a serious dent in McGill's scoring punch. When she was assessed her misconduct along with a cross-checking infraction, Smith had to send Davidson, another sniper, to the box to serve the minor.

It was either Davidson, he later explained or it would have to be one of the three other remaining players on the ice. But all of them, two of them key defencemen, play on the team's top penalty-killing unit.

The Carabins ended up going 1-for-6 on the power-play, while McGill was 1-for-4.

"What did you think?," was Peter Smith's curt response when asked what he thought of the officiating.

McGill had a 36-29 edge in shots on a day where neither goalie looked especially sharp. UdeM netminder Marie-Pier Chabot was credited with 32 saves and collected the win, improving to 5-0 on the season. McGill sophomore Brittany Smrke made 23 saves and took the loss as her record tumbled to 5-2-0. The final goal was scored into an empty net.

McGill (10-3-0), which plays next at Concordia (4-6-2) on Jan. 25, will get another shot at the Carabins (10-2-0) on Jan. 30 at CEPSUM Arena. The bitter rivals are also scheduled to cross paths on Feb. 15 at McConnell Arena. Could it be the first-ever regular-season sell-out for the Martlets?

LINK TO COMPLETE BOXSCORE

SCORING SUMMARY
Montreal 6 at McGill 4 (ENG)
(Sunday, January 18, 2015 - McConnell Arena @ McGill)

GOALS BY PERIOD:
Montreal 2-1-3 -- 6
McGill 2-1-1 -- 4

1st Period-
1, McGill, Gabrielle Davidson 11 (Pohlod, Fouracres), 8:03.
2, Montreal, Ariane Barker 11 (unassisted), 10:24 (PP).
3, McGill, Leslie Oles 11 (Moffatt, Davidson), 13:13 (PP).
4, Montreal, Jessica Cormier 5 (unassisted), 18:30.

Penalties-Constantinou Mcg (hooking), 8:55; Barker Mtl (tripping), 13:06.

2nd Period-
5, Montreal, Audrey Gariepy 5 (Delorme, Mantha), 4:38.
6, McGill, Alexandria Serpico 4 (Oles, Davidson), 15:28.

Penalties-Oles Mcg (slashing, check to the head), 6:54; Barker Mtl (tripping), 18:18; Oles Mcg (cross checking -served by Davidson, 10-minute misconduct), 18:48.

3rd Period-
7, Montreal, Josianne Legault 4 (unassisted), 3:58.
8, Montreal, Jessica Cormier 6 (Barker), 12:44.
9, McGill, Stefanie Pohlod 6 (Clement-Heydra), 13:38.
10, Montreal, Ariane Barker 12 (unassisted), 19:37 (ENG).

Penalties-Cormier Mtl (interference), 0:36; Fouracres Mcg (tripping), 5:02; Allemoz Mtl (interference), 10:19; McDonell Mcg (tripping), 15:21.

Shots on Goal-
Montreal 9-9-11 -- 29.
McGill 11-13-12 -- 36.

Power Play Opportunities-
Montreal 1 / 6;
McGill 1 / 4.

Goalies-
Montreal,
Marie-Pier Chabot (W, 5-0-0, 36 shots-32 saves; 60:00).

McGill,
Brittany Smrke (L, 5-2-0, 28 shots-23 saves; 59:45).
EMPTY-NET (1 shot, 1 goal, 0:15)

Attendance: 180
Start: 3:00 PM
End: 5:02 PM
Length: 2:02

Referee-Melanie Bordeleau.
Linesmen-Stephanie Campbell, Joelle Champoux.

THREE STARS:
1. MTL - 22 Jessica Cormier
2. MTL - 84 Ariane Barker
3. MCG - 15 Gabrielle Davidson