MONTREAL -- Rookie rearguard Samantha McCluskey of Etobicoke, Ont., scored her first career goal and that proved to be the game-winner as the McGill University women's hockey team rallied from a two-goal deficit to edge Ryerson 3-2 on Day 2 of the 50th annual Theresa Humes Invitational tournament, Saturday, at Ed Meagher Arena.

The game was a physical affair with a plethora of bodychecks as the two teams combined for 14 penalties, including eight to Ryerson, and there could've been double that number if the officials had called every hit. The Martlets took advantage of eight power-play situations, scoring twice, to finish with a commanding 42-13 advantage in shots on net. Ryerson went 2-for-5 with the extra attacker.

"I thought it was a (challenging) game for us, to play physical and claw our way back after being down two goals. We made some changes on our power-play and it looked much-improved," said Martlets head coach Peter Smith. "With that many shots, I would've liked to see us get more pucks in the back of the net. We need to be hungrier without the puck around the net. On those shots, we need to crash the net a bit better than we did today."

It took 15 games in a McGill jersey for McCluskey -- an 18-year-old arts and science freshman -- to score her first marker but the 5-foot-7 blueliner fired a howitzer into the top corner that capped the Martlets come-from-behind conquest on a power-play at 13:43 of the second stanza.

The Rams had taken a 2-0 lead on first period power-play goals from forwards Lauren Nicholson and Madison Lalonde at 4:13 and 12:18, respectively. But Marika Labrecque, a freshman from Lac Etchemin, Que., got one back for the Martlets at 16:51.

In the second stanza, McGill evened the count at 2-2 when Olivia Atkinson converted a nice feed from Jade Downie-Landry on the power play at 5:16. That set the stage for McCluskey's heroics.

The teams played a scoreless third period but McGill had to kill off a five-minute body-checking major with 5:13 remaining in the contest when Labrecque, a 5-foot-5 forward collided in mid-ice with Ryerson's Olivia Giardetti, a 5-foot-4 freshman. Giardetti appeared to step into Labrecque but got the worst of the collision when she fell hard to the ice. She was helped off the ice but did not return. The major came with an automatic game misconduct, which means that Labrecque, who had a two-point soiree, will have to sit out McGill's next game.

"We've had two physical games in a row and it's tough for the players to figure out where the line is (on body-checking), but it's the same standard for both teams," added Smith. "Marika has grown up playing boys hockey and is real good at protecting herself. I thought that the Ryerson player stood up (into the check) and they both collided. I will have to look at the video but it was a tough call (against Marika)."

With starting goaltender Tricia Deguire playing overseas for Canada, Amanda Hadwen, a freshman from Ottawa, Ont., merited her fifth appearance of the season, all in exhibition play. She kicked out 11 of 13 shots, improving her record to 3-0, with a 1.68 goals-against average and a .922 save percentage.

Sydney Authier started between the pipes for Ryerson and made 39 saves in a losing cause.

McGill, which improved to 9-13-0 overall, including a 7-7 mark against Canadian university teams, will conclude their tourney schedule against Guelph on Sunday at 11 a.m. The Gryphons are 12-8 overall after losing 7-0 to Concordia in their tourney opener on Friday and 2-1 against Vermont on Saturday.

MARTLET MURMURS:  After 22 games overall, Jade Downie-Landry leads the team in scoring with a 14-14-28 record... Linemate Olivia Atkinson, who leads the league in regular-season scoring (5-6-11 in nine games) -- is second on the team in overall points production with an 11-8-19 record.


LINK TO BOXSCORE

THERESA HUMES TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE AND RESULTS

Friday, Dec. 29
Les Étoiles 6, McGill 3
Vermont 8, Ryerson 2
Concordia 7, Guelph 0

Saturday, Dec. 30
McGill 3, Ryerson 2
Vermont 2, Guelph 1
Concordia vs. Les Étoiles – 7 p.m.

Sunday, Dec. 31
McGill vs. Guelph – 11 a.m.
Ryerson vs. Les Étoiles – 1:30 p.m.
Concordia vs. Vermont – 4 p.m.