MONTREAL -- Team captain Melodie Daoust of Valleyfield, Que., scored twice and added a pair of helpers as No.4-ranked McGill toppled Ottawa 5-2 to capture the rubber match in an RSEQ women's hockey best-of-three semifinal series, Sunday, at McConnell Arena.

The victory, McGill's eighth in nine games, moves the Martlets into the RSEQ best-of-three championship series for the Dr. Ed Enos Cup in addition to meriting a berth at the national championship. McGill will play archrival Concordia, who upset the Montreal Carabins in two straight, for the conference title -- their first post-season meeting since the 2013-14 semifinals. Both Quebec finalists will also be traveling to Napanee, Ont., for the U SPORTS Final Eight national championship tournament, hosted by Queen's, March 16-19.

It was a unconventional series-deciding affair -- in the wake of McGill and Ottawa combining for just six goals over the first two games -- that featured seven goals, three disallowed markers, 11 power-plays and 16 penalties, including a bizarre bench minor assessed to McGill for dressing too many (4) alternate captains.

"It was a 60-minute effort," said long-time McGill bench boss Peter Smith, who stated after Game 2 that his troops only showed up for 20 minutes. "We coaches were real proud of the effort. It was kind of a bounce-back game after not having our best performance (in a 2-1 loss) yesterday. But more importantly, the players were proud of their effort, which is what matters. It was a real "Martlet hockey" game: we played fast and with good structure. Our forecheck was terrific and we scored some goals. As coaches we always talk about not having any passengers and that was the case this afternoon -- everybody was going. It was a pleasure to coach."

Daoust, a 5-foot-6 centre, scored the first goal of the game with a power-play marker at 5:15 of the opening stanza, assisted by Olivia Atkinson and Erica Starnino. The physical education senior earned the assist on two of her team's three second-period goals, then guided the puck into the empty net with a buzzer-beater to insure the win.

"Mélo was outstanding," said Smith of the 2014 Olympic gold medalist who has either scored or assisted on seven of McGill's eight playoff goals. "I thought we had a number of outstanding efforts in the game today and our best players were our best players. We didn't have that yesterday, but we had it today. Mélo is such a great leader, she leads the charge both in terms of our on-ice performance and also in terms of her presence and demeanor that she brings to the team."

With her side down 1-0 after one period, Carol-Ann Upshall potted Ottawa's first marker to tie the score at 10:06 of the middle stanza, assisted by Cindy Laurin. Just three minutes later, however, Marie-Philip Lavoie of Pohenegamook, Que., restored the Martlets' lead at 13:30, set up by Nicole Howlett and Zoe Todd.

Gabrielle Davidson of Pte. Claire, Que., made it 3-1 at 17:03 and Atkinson followed it up with another just 50 seconds later to give McGill an almost insurmountable 4-1 lead after two. Daoust earned the assist on both goals.

Gee-Gees coach Yanick Evola then opted to swap starting netminder Maude Levesque-Ryan with Émilie Bouchard for the final two minutes of the period, though Levesque-Ryan returned to start the third.

Roxanne Rioux got one back for Ottawa just five seconds into a power play at 11:04 of the final frame, assisted by Bryanna Neuwald, but thatwas all they could get past Martlets goalie Tricia Deguire, a freshman from Sherbrooke, Que., who stopped 21 of 23 pucks and improved her postseason record to 2-1.

Levesque-Ryan made 31 saves on 35 shots in the loss, while Bouchard didn't face any rubber in 2:07 played.

"We're getting ready for Concordia now," said Smith, whose squad McGill was 1-for-7 on the power play and erased three of four shorthanded situations. "They're another real good team for us to play against and we're pretty excited to play in the RSEQ championship game again.

"They play fast as well, and with a little more structure now than they have have  in the past," he noted of the Stingers. "Certainly we'll have to be sharp. They've got solid goaltending, they're a good team and they're very hot right now -- since Christmas they've played some real good hockey, as have we, so that should be an exciting series."

McGill now owns a 95-17-7 record in 119 overall meetings with the Gee-Gees, including 17-6 in post-season play.

The RSEQ final opend on March 2, with the stingers traveling to McConnell Arena for a 7 p.m. faceoff. Game 2 will take place at Ed Meagher Arena on Saturday afternoon (March 4), and a rubber match, if needed, is slated for McConnell Arena on Sunday afternoon. The start time for the last two games will be 2 p.m.
 
RSEQ SEMIFINAL (Game 3)
SCORING SUMMARY
Ottawa 2 at McGill 5
(Sunday, February 26, 2017 - McConnell Arena @ McGill)

GOALS BY PERIOD:
Ottawa 0-1-1 -- 2
McGill 1-3-1 -- 5

1st Period-
1, McGill, Melodie Daoust 1 (Atkinson, Starnino), 5:15 (PP).
 
Penalties-Samson Ott (interference), 3:39; Houle Ott (tripping), 14:41; Neuwald Ott (bodychecking), 18:57; Rioux Ott (tripping), 18:57.

2nd Period-
2, Ottawa, Carol-Ann Upshall 1 (Laurin), 10:06.
3, McGill, Marie-Philip Lavoie 1 (Howlett, Todd), 13:30.
4, McGill, Gabrielle Davidson 3 (Daoust), 17:03.
5, McGill, Olivia Atkinson 2 (Daoust), 17:53.
 
Penalties- McG bench minor served by Dumais (illegal substitution), 0:00; Neuwald Ott (hooking), 7:29; Laurin Ott (roughing), 18:48; Todd Mcg (holding), 18:48.

3rd Period-
6, Ottawa, Roxanne Rioux 1 (Neuwald), 11:04 (PP).
7, McGill, Melodie Daoust 2 (unassisted), 19:59 (EN).
 
Penalties-Santini Mcg (bodychecking), 0:51; Rioux Ott (interference on goaltender), 2:51; Godbout-Parent Ott (slashing), 3:21; Laurin Ott (roughing), 6:44; Dumais Mcg (roughing), 6:44; Davidson Mcg (interference), 10:49; Godbout-Parent Ott (hooking), 13:09; Walker Mcg (slashing), 15:58.

Shots on Goal-
Ottawa 5-14-4 -- 23.
McGill 7-18-11 -- 36.

Power Play Opportunities-
Ottawa 1 / 4;
McGill 1 / 7.

Goalies-
Ottawa,
Maude Levesque-Ryan (Start; L, 1-2-0, 35 shots-31 saves; 55:25);
Émilie Bouchard (0 shots-0 saves; 2:07).

McGill,
Tricia Deguire (W, 2-1-0, 23 shots-21 saves; 60:00).

Attendance: 247
Start: 2:05 PM
End: 4:26 PM
Length: 2:21

Referees-Vanessa Morin, Patricia Pare.
Linesmen-Laurie Longpre, Elizabeth Mantha.
 
THREE STARS:
1. MCG - 17 Melodie Daoust
2. MCG - 15 Gabrielle Davidson
3. MCG - 25 Erica Starnino