MONTREAL --
Stéphanie Lalancette scored twice as the fifth-ranked Concordia Stingers surprised No.3 McGill 3-1 in RSEQ women's hockey, Saturday, at Ed Meagher Arena.
Concordia snapped a three-game losing streak to the Martlets since their last victory, a similar 3-1 decision on home ice, Jan. 21, 2017. The Stingers improved their overall record to 40-82-3 in 125 lifetime meetings with the Martlets since women's hockey was formally sanctioned with a national championship in 1997.
It was the season opener for the Martlets, who were outshot 29-22, including a 15-10 margin in the second period, when all four goals were scored.
"I'm obviously disappointed," said McGill head coach
Peter Smith. "I thought Concordia's compete level was higher than ours and they played a smarter hockey game than we did. We've been playing some pretty good hockey but in this game we kind of fell back into some old habits. We had some individual efforts that didn't help us."
After a scoreless opening period, rookie
Kellyann Lecours of Victoriaville, Que., got things started with a power-play tally at 1:10 of the middle frame, assisted by
Nicole Howlett of Delta, B.C., and
Emilia Cotter of Toronto.
Brigitte Laganière tied things up for Concordia with a power-play goal of her own at 6:58 of the period before Lalancette, a senior defenceman, netted her pair at 8:35 and 14:01.
McGill netminder
Tricia Deguire of Sherbrooke, Que., turned away 26 of 29 shots in 59:04. She was pulled for the extra attacker with just over two minutes left but returned to the crease to defend a late penalty assessed at 18:36.
Her Stingers counterpart,
Katherine Purchase, made 21 saves for the win.
The Martlets were 1-for-2 on the power play and 4-for-5 on the penalty kill.
"We've got to play with more discipline than what we showed today," emphasized Smith. "We've got to stay out of the penalty box."
McGill (0-1-0) next hosts Montreal (1-0-1) at 7 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 27 at McConnell Arena before heading to Ottawa (1-0-1) for a matinee on Oct. 29. Concordia (1-1-0) visits Carleton (1-1-0) that evening.
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