MONTREAL – Olivia Atkinson continued her torrid scoring pace with a hat-trick as sixth-ranked McGill rallied from a two-goal deficit to defeat No.3 Saint Mary's 5-3 in women's exhibition hockey at McConnell Arena, Tuesday.
 
It extended McGill's win streak to eight consecutive contests and was also their eighth straight victory over SMU since a 2-1 home-ice loss on Jan. 20, 2006.
 
The Huskies led 2-0 after the opening frame but McGill took control the rest of the way, outscoring their guests 3-1 in the middle period and 2-0 in the final stanza. McGill dominated the shots tally in each period to finish with a 42-20 advantage.
 
Atkinson, a 19-year science sophomore from Oakville, Ont., erased the two-goal deficit with a power-play marker at 4:55 of the second period and struck again minutes later to knot the score at 2-2 by the 8:05 mark. The 5-foot-7 forward completed her trio at 3:20 of the third with an insurance marker to make the score  5-3. The three-goal performance was only the team's second of the season, matching Marie-Philip Lavoie, who accomplished her 'trick in a 7-0 win over Moncton on Sept. 30/16.
 
Atkinson, who has started the New Year with five goals in two contests, now has a team-leading 14 goals in 24 games overall, doubling her freshman total of seven in 40 outings.
 
"She keeps her feet moving, has good speed and has developed some nice vision on the ice," said McGill head coach Peter Smith, who improved to 458-178-32 overall in 17 seasons behind the bench at McGill. "She works hard and I'm real happy for her."

A pair of seniors, Sarah Douglas of Whitby, Ont., and Breanna Lanceleve of Middle Sackville, N.S., had given the Huskies their 2-0 advantage in the first period, at 15:15 and 19:49, respectively. After Atkinson struck twice early in the second period, SMU regained the lead when Mary Worndl, a junior from Kitchener, Ont., connected at 14:10.
 
McGill then scored three unanswered, beginning with Pointe Claire, Que., native Gabrielle Davidson, who replied at the 16-minute mark with her second goal in as many outings after making her season debut two days earlier.
 
Sophomore defenceman Zoe Todd of Vancouver, B.C., netted the game-winner with her first career goal only 67 seconds into the final period, ending a 53-game scoreless drought. That set the stage for Atkinson's final goal less than three minutes later.
 
"I didn't like our warm-up today," revealed Smith when asked about the sluggish start. "Usually I don't pay much attention to it but I didn't think we looked sharp. We talked about it just before the game, that we needed to be more focused. I didn't think we were real good in the first period, although we had some bad luck on their second goal. But in the intermission, our players were good about that. They stood up and took responsibility. They came back out in the second and played real Martlet hockey… hard, fast and with good structure. Then in the third, we stood up to a real physical test. That kind of game will make us better. Saint Mary's played very physical and we stood up to it without any problem. It's that kind of play that will make us better down the road."
 
The Huskies physical style proved to be their undoing as they took nine of 11 penalties called in the game. McGill was 1-for-8 on the power-play, while SMU was 1-for-2. 
 
McGill rookie netminder Tricia Deguire of Sherbrooke, Que., made her 24^th consecutive start and turned aside 17 of 20 shots, improving her record to 15-8-1 overall. Sophomore Rebecca Clark, her SMU counterpart from Keswick, Ont., saved 37 of 42 shots in a losing cause.
 
The Martlets have now scored five times in back-to-back games after managing that feat only twice in the team's preceding 23 contests.
 
McGill owns a 15-8-1 record overall, including a conference-leading 8-2 record in RSEQ play. The Martlets resume the regular-season on Friday (Jan. 6) with a first-place showdown against the No.5-ranked Montreal Carabins (7-4) at McConnell Arena at 7 p.m. For some bizarre reason, the Carabins are ranked one spot higher in the national Top 10 despite trailing the Martlets by two points in the RSEQ standings and losing each of the first two meetings with McGill.
 
The Huskies dropped to 18-4-0 overall and will play the Carabins on Wednesday at 11 a.m. before returning to the Maritimes, where they lead the AUS conference with a 10-3 record.
 
MARTLET MURMURS: Condolences to Martlets long-time assistant coach Stewart McCarthey, who lost his brother "DJ" on Dec. 27 after a brief illness. He was just 52. A celebration of his life will be held at the Rideau Funeral Home, 4275 boul. des Sources, Dollard des Ormeaux, Que.,  on Monday, Jan. 9, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Gord Downie & Chanie Wenjack Fund… Condolences can be submitted online at: http://rideaumemorial.sharingmemories.ca/site/David-McCarthey.html?s=40

SEE TEAM'S INDIVIDUAL SCORING LEADERS:
  
LINK TO COMPLETE BOXSCORE
 
SCORING SUMMARY
Saint Mary's 3 at McGill 5
(Tuesday, January 3, 2017 - EXHIBITION @ McConnell Arena)

GOALS BY PERIOD:
Saint Mary's 2-1-0 —3
McGill 0-3-2 — 5

1st Period-
1, Saint Mary's, Sarah Douglas (Lanceleve, Wilkinson), 15:15 (PP).
2, Saint Mary's, Breanna Lanceleve (Wilkinson), 19:49.
 
Penalties-Murphy SMU (bodychecking), 5:45; Harrietha SMU (roughing), 13:12; Daoust Mcg (roughing), 13:12; Davidson Mcg (interference on goaltender), 14:41.

2nd Period-
3, McGill, Olivia Atkinson 12 (Daoust), 4:55 (PP).
4, McGill, Olivia Atkinson 13 (Lavoie, Daoust), 8:05.
5, Saint Mary's, Mary Worndl 1 (Birch, Wilkinson), 14:10.
6, McGill, Gabrielle Davidson 2 (Bowman, Walker), 16:00.
 
Penalties-Murphy SMU (bodychecking), 4:05; Wilkinson SMU (hooking), 4:05; Howlett Mcg (cross checking), 4:43; Manning SMU (bodychecking), 5:08; Blanche SMU (check to the head), 18:40.

3rd Period-
7, McGill, Zoe Todd 1 (Lavoie), 1:07.
8, McGill, Olivia Atkinson 14 (Davies), 3:20.
 
Penalties-Timmerman SMU (hooking), 8:54; Askin SMU (slashing), 16:49; MacDonald SMU (check to the head), 18:06.

Shots on Goal-
Saint Mary's 7-7-6 —20.
McGill 11-16-15 —42.

Power Play Opportunities-
Saint Mary's 1 / 2;
McGill 1 / 8.

Goalies-
Saint Mary's, Rebecca Clark (L, 42 shots-37 saves; 60:00).
McGill, Tricia Deguire (W, 15-8-1, 20 shots-17 saves; 60:00).

Attendance: 94
Start: 2:02 PM
End: 4:04 PM
Length: 2:02

Referees-Vanessa Morin, Pauline Motet.
Linesmen-Andrea Parenteau, Joanie Duchesneau.
 
THREE STARS:
1. MCG - 2 Olivia Atkinson
2. MCG - 4 Zoe Todd
3. SMU - 15 Breanna Lanceleve
 
SOURCE:
Earl Zukerman
Communications Officer
Athletics & Recreation
McGill University
514-398-7012 (Tel.)
earl.zukerman@mcgill.ca
 
SEE COMPLETE McGILL VARSITY SCHEDULE ONLINE AT:
www.mcgillathletics.ca/calendar.aspx