MONTREAL -- Goaltender Taylor Hough registered a 21-save shutout and Olympian Melodie Daoust netted the game-winner as No.3-ranked McGill skated to a 2-0 triumph at Concordia in women's university hockey at the Ed Meagher Arena, Friday.

McGill has now won six consecutive games over their cross-town rivals and improved to 72-38-3 in 113 lifetime meetings with Concordia since the CIS adopted women's hockey in 1997-98.

Daoust, who leads the RSEQ conference scoring race with a 4-7-11 record in eight games, converted a pass from Erica Starnino for the winner at 13:39 of the middle period. Teammate Gabrielle Davidson added an insurance goal with a shorthanded effort at 15:05 of the final period. Forward Cora Constantinou drew the only assist on the play.

It marked the sixth shutout in the past seven games involving the Martlets, who have been on the winning side in four of them. Its definitely the year of the goalie in the RSEQ conference, which has already produced nine whitewashes in 20 games this season, compared to 15 in 50 contests all of last season.

Hough, a 5-foot-10 senior from Toronto who has both shone and struggled this season, has settled down and now owns a league-leading three goose-eggs, one shy of tying for the CIS lead in that category. She has a 4-2 record, is ranked third among league leaders in goals-against average (1.25) and is tied for third in save percentage (.944).

"Huffy was good, she played well, there were some tough saves," said Peter Smith, head coach of the Martlets, who was inducted by his hometown a few days ago into the Lachine Sports Hall of Fame. "It was a grind it out type of game. Our team likes to play a fast-flowing style but it wasn't that type of game. And for our team to be successful, this type of game is good for us. To be able to grind out a win like that is a step in the right direction."

McGill, which had a 28-21 edge in shots on net, continued their woes on the power-play, going 0-for-5, while the Stingers were scoreless in six PP chances and conceded the aforementioned shorthanded goal.

The fourth-place Stingers, who evened their record at 3-3-1, will host Ottawa (5-3) on Sunday at 3 p.m.

The Martlets, who improved to 5-3 in league play, moved into a tie for second place with Ottawa, one point behind division-leading Montreal (5-3-1).

McGill will resume their challenging exhibition series with NCAA Div. 1 teams on Sunday at 3 p.m. when they host Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute from Troy, N.Y. The RPI Engineers have four Canadians in their lineup, all from Ontario -- including freshman goalie Kira Bombay from Oreans.

There is no webcast schedled but live stats will be available.

The Martlets are 2-4 versus NCAA squads this season, with victories against Vermont and Yale. The losses were against St. Lawrence, Clarkson, Dartmouth and Harvard.

GAME NOTES: One of the linesmen didn't come out for the third period after apparently straining her back in the second stanza. This led to some confusion on McGill's second goal when the officials were caught out of position.

LINK TO COMPLETE BOXSCORE

SCORING SUMMARY
McGill 2 at Concordia 0
(Friday, November 20, 2015 - Ed Meagher Arena @ Concordia)

GOALS BY PERIOD
McGill 0-1-1 -- 2
Concordia 0-0-0 -- 0

1st Period-
(No Scoring).

Penalties-Rhainds Con (tripping), 2:55; Howlett Mcg (hooking), 5:39; Gagnon Con (roughing), 10:23; Daoust Mcg (cross checking), 16:36.

2nd Period-
1, McGill, Melodie Daoust 4 (Starnino), 13:39.

Penalties-Wade Con (tripping), 3:51; Gagne Con (tripping), 8:35; Lavoie Mcg (bodychecking), 10:43; Walker Mcg (cross checking), 15:30; Fouracres Mcg (roughing), 19:04; Schofield Con (slashing), 19:04.

3rd Period-
2, McGill, Gabrielle Davidson 3 (Constantinou), 15:05 (SH).

Penalties-Davidson Mcg (bodychecking), 9:51; Dubois Con (cross checking), 11:52; Starnino Mcg (bodychecking), 12:42.

Shots on Goal-
McGill 6-9-13 -- 28.
Concordia 5-8-8 -- 21.

Power Play Opportunities-
McGill 0 / 5;
Concordia 0 / 6.

Goalies-
McGill, Taylor Hough (W, 4-2-0, 21 shots-21 saves; 60:00).
Concordia, Katherine Purchase (L, 3-4-0, 28 shots-26 saves; 57:52).

Attendance: 132
Start: 7:34 PM
End: 9:36 PM
Length: 2:02
Referee-Anne-Marie Berube.
Linesmen-Audrey St-Pierre, Danielle McGurry.

THREE STARS
1. MCG - 32 Taylor Hough
2. MCG - 17 Melodie Daoust
3. MCG - 15 Gabrielle Davidson

SOURCE:

Earl Zukerman
Communications Officer
Athletics & Recreation
McGill University
514-398-7012 (Tel.)
m.athletics.mcgill.ca (mobile website)
www.mcgill athletics.ca
earl.zukerman@mcgill.ca
@EarlZukerman (twitter)
 
SEE COMPLETE McGILL VARSITY SCHEDULE ONLINE AT:
www.mcgillathletics.ca/calendar.aspx