MONTREAL -- Jade Downie-Landry of St. Jean sur Richelieu, Que., scored the game-winner with 97 seconds remaining as fourth-ranked McGill doubled Concordia 2-1 in RSEQ women's hockey at McConnell Arena on Saturday.

The win boosted the Martlets' record to 79-39-3 in 121 lifetime meetings with the Stingers since women's hockey became formally sanctioned with a national championship in 1997.

"It was a fun game to play, since it's not going to affect the standings," said McGill head coach Peter Smith. "We came out and wanted to do well in the game, and you appreciate that when the players want to do well. It didn't always go our way and we got a little bit frustrated but that's indicative of how much the players care. It took us a little while to sort that out but we seemed to have a happier group in the third period, so that was good."

Downie-Landry, a 5-foot-9 freshman forward, was back in the lineup after missing two games due to a league-imposed suspension for a play that had not been penalized during McGill's win over the Montreal Carabins on Jan. 27. Her power-play marker at 18:23 of the third, which gave McGill what appeared to be a safe 2-0 lead, proved to be the game winner after Concordia scored seconds later.

Team captain Melodie Daoust of Valleyfield, Que., and Olivia Atkinson of Oakville, Ont., earned the assists on the winning marker.  Downie-Landry leads all RSEQ rookies in points-per-game with 15 in 15 contests, including eight goals.

"Jade's such a dynamic player," said Smith. "She brings a lot to our line-up."

After a scoreless first period, Nicole Howlett of Tsawwassen, B.C., opened the scoring at 3:04 of the second, with help from Shana Walker of North York, Ont.

As the clock dwindled down in the final minutes of the game, Downie-Landry then doubled the advantage, leading Concordia to pull goaltender Katherine Purchase for an extra attacker. The tactic proved fruitful as Tracy-Ann Lavigne broke the shutout bid with 57 seconds remaining, assisted by Alexandra Nikolidakis.

Purchase saved 27 of 29 shots in defeat as her record dropped to 8-9.

Martlets netminder Tricia Deguire, a 5-foot-7 freshman from Sherbrooke, Que., turned away 21 of 22 pucks and improved her record to 14-3. The 19-year-old rookie continues to lead the Quebec conference in wins, goals-against average (1.75) and save percentage (.930).

McGill was 1-for-3 on the power play while the Stingers were 0-for-1..

The division-leading Martlets (15-4-0) wrap up the regular season against last-place Carleton (4-13-2) on Sunday (Feb. 19) at 3 p.m. at McConnell Arena. They will open a best-of-three RSEQ semifinal series at home against fourth-place Ottawa (9-10-1) on Thursday, Feb. 23 at 7 p.m.

"I think if you look at the way the year went, pretty much anybody could beat anybody on any given night," said Smith with an eye towards the postseason. "Any of the three teams (we could have faced in th first round) are solid teams, but we'll be well-prepared and ready to go."

Concordia (10-9-1) finished in third and will face second-place Montreal (11-8-1) in the playoffs.
 
LINK TO COMPLETE BOXSCORE

SCORING SUMMARY
Concordia 1 at McGill 2
(Saturday, February 18, 2017 - McConnell Arena @ McGill)

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

1st Period-
(No Scoring).
 
Penalties-Bernier Con (hooking), 14:56.

2nd Period-
1, McGill, Nicole Howlett 5 (Walker), 3:04.
 
Penalties-Nikolidakis Con (interference), 9:14; Lavoie Mcg (slashing), 19:26.

3rd Period-
2, McGill, Jade Downie-Landry 8 (Daoust, Atkinson), 18:23 (PP).
3, Concordia, Tracy-Ann Lavigne 2 (Nikolidakis), 19:03.
 
Penalties-Dubois Con (slashing), 17:07.

Shots on Goal-
Concordia 8-8-6 -- 22.
McGill 12-8-9 -- 29.

Power Play Opportunities-
Concordia 0 / 1;
McGill 1 / 3.

Goalies-
Concordia, Katherine Purchase (L, 8-9-0, 29 shots-27 saves; 58:33).
McGill, Tricia Deguire (W, 14-3-0, 22 shots-21 saves; 60:00).

Attendance: 115
Start: 3:03 PM
End: 4:55 PM
Length: 1:52

Referees-Genevieve Lavoie.
Linesmen-Genevieve Gouin, Marie-Pierre Jalbert.
 
THREE STARS:
1. MCG - 33 Tricia Deguire
2. MCG - 22 Nicole Howlett
3. MCG - 27 Jade Downie-Landry


2016-17 RSEQ WOMEN'S HOCKEY STANDINGS (updated after games of Feb. 17)
 

UNIVERSITY	GP	W	L	OTL	PTS	PCT	GF	GA	STK	PIM
McGill	19	15	4	0	30	0.789	54	33	5-0-0	156
Montreal	20	11	8	1	23	0.575	58	51	1-0-0	164
Concordia	20	10	9	1	21	0.525	55	48	0-2-0	156
Ottawa	20	9	10	1	19	0.475	55	59	0-5-0	214
Carleton	19	4	13	2	10	0.263	37	68	1-0-0	208

REMAINING GAMES ON RSEQ SCHEDULE:

F50

Dim

2017-02-19

15:00

Carleton

McGill

McConnell Arena

Web