MONTREAL -- Freshman Stephanie Desjardins scored twice as No.9 ranked McGill skated to a 5-1 victory over visiting Carleton in RSEQ women's hockey at McConnell Arena on Saturday. It was the third straight win for the Martlets after dropping their first four regular season games. McGill, which had only five goals over their first four contests, struck for 11 markers in their next three outings.

Nine different Martlets made it onto the scoresheet as McGill more than doubled their guests in shots, 46-22, and improved their overall record against Carleton to 91-4-1. 

"Every game that we've played we've gotten better and gained confidence," said McGill head coach Peter Smith. "We've played seven games now and the first one wasn't good but the next six have been real good. There were three games where we played pretty well but didn't win, and now that last three we've played pretty well and have won.

"We're getting better every outing, which really as a coach is what you want to see. They're a hard-working group and they're coachable. Friday night (in a 2-0 win over the Montreal Carabins) in particular, we really stuck with the plan. I didn't think we were quite as sharp in the third today but overall it was a good effort."

After a scoreless first period Desjardins, a 5-foot-4 forward from Grand Falls, N.B., got things started with her first career regular season goal at 5:46 of the second. The physical education freshman added another tally at 12:47 of the period to make it 3-0 after two.

"She scored two good ones," said Smith. "That line of Desjardins, Kellyane Lecours and Marie-Philip Lavoie was strong again tonight. They moved the puck well and created a lot of opportunities in the offensive zone. I really like that line, they're doing well. Two first-year players and a fourth-year player is a good combination."

Shana Walker, a junior from North York, Ont., netted what proved to be the game-winner at 12:14 of the middle frame to put McGill ahead 2-0, followed by a death blow from Desjardins just 33 seconds later.

Junior Olivia Atkinson of Oakville, Ont., made it 4-0 at 7:08 of the third period and sophomore Sidonie Chard of Kingston, Ont., rubbed salt in the Ravens wound, making it 5-0 with a shorthanded goal at 16:57. Carleton's Jennifer Semkowski spoiled McGill netminder Tricia Deguire bid for a second consecutive shutout with just 2:06 remaining in the contest.

It snapped a shutout streak of 144 minutes and 17 seconds for Deguire, a native of  Sherbrooke, Que., who turned away 21 shots for the win as her record improved to 3-4 on the season. She lowered her goals-against average to 2.02 and raised her save percentage to .925.

"She made some really good saves," Smith said. "Similar to Friday's win over Montreal), she played with a lot of confidence. When your goaltender plays that way it lends a lot of confidence to the rest of the team. She's a real leader on this team both in the room and on the ice and highly respected by her teammates, so good on her."

Along with Desjardins, Atkinson (1-1-2), Chard (1-1-2) and Lavoie (0-2-2) all recorded multi-point evenings.

Carleton's Katelyn Steele made 41 saves in a losing effort as her record dropped to 3-3.

Despite a combined 14 power-play opportunities in the match, including six for the Martlets, the only special teams goal was Chard's shorty.

"The power-play was good (despite not scoring) but it's a work in progress," offered Smith, whose troops are currently operating at 10.8 efficiency with the man-advantage, scoring three times in 28 opportunities. "It's getting better but we've got to keep working hard on it."

The Ravens (3-3-0) visit Ottawa (3-1-1) on Sunday (Nov. 19). McGill (3-4-0) has two games remaining, both at home, before the December exam break. They will host the Gee-Gees on Nov. 24 at 7 p.m., then close out the semester on Dec. 2 with a 2 p.m. matinee against the Montreal Carabins.

MARTLET MURMURS: The Martlets celebrated their annual alumni Homecoming Game with a big win in front of a plethora of former players. Among those spotted in the crowd were a number of grads who play for Les Canadiennes of the National Women's Hockey League, including Katia Clement-Heydra and Ann-Sophie Bettez, Melodie Daoust, Cathy Chartrand and Jordanna Peroff. Other grads in attendance were Gabrielle Davidson, Shauna Denis, Alyssa Cecere, Joanne Cagionos, Darragh Hamilton, Chelsey Saunders, Jasmine Sheehan, Gillian Merrifield, Andrea Weckman, Rebecca Martindale, Adrienne Crampton, Emily Davies, Brittany Privee, Taylor Hough, Pamela Psihogios, Kim Thon-That, Bianca Della Porta, Chantal Gauvin, Elizabeth Hillier, Lisa Zane and Meg Hewings, who serves as general manager of Les Canadiennes.

LINK TO BOXSCORE

2017-18 RSEQ WOMEN'S HOCKEY STANDINGS
 

Rank	TEAM	GP	W	L	OTL	PTS	PCT	GF	GA	STK	P10	PIM
1	Montreal	7	3	1	3	9	.643	14	14	0-1-0	3-1-3	56
2	Concordia	7	4	3	0	8	.571	18	17	0-2-0	4-3-0	54
3	Ottawa	5	3	1	1	7	.700	11	10	1-0-0	3-1-1	46
4	Carleton	6	3	3	0	6	.500	12	15	0-1-0	3-3-0	70
5	McGill	7	3	4	0	6	.429	16	15	3-0-0	3-4-0	72