MONTREAL --
Olivia Atkinson netted a hat-trick,
Marie-Philip Lavoie contributed four assists and
Melodie Daoust reached the 250-point plateau as No.6-ranked McGill clinched first place with a 7-4 victory over Carleton in RSEQ women's hockey at McConnell Arena, Saturday.
Playing in front of
Dr. Suzanne Fortier, the McGill principal and vice chancellor, McGill registered their 11th regular season title in 12 years and guaranteed themselves of holding home-ice advantage throughout the conference playoffs. It also marked the highest scoring output for the Martlets in 40 league games, dating back to a 10-0 win over the Ravens on Feb. 13, 2015.
"It was a sloppy game," said McGill head coach
Peter Smith of the combined 11 goals -- the highest in a McGill matchup in almost five years, dating back to an 8-3 victory over Montreal on Nov. 17, 2012. "We scored seven goals so there are lots of positives there. But we gave up too many scoring chances and odd-man rushes and the players know it. We certainly need to tighten up there. It clearly wasn't our best performance but I had said to the players beforehand that we want to get something out of the game, we want to learn from it and we can. We had a lot of good shifts and we had some shifts where we made mindless decisions. We need to get past that and we will."
Atkinson tallied the Martlets' opening goal, then the game-winner and an empty-net insurance marker. The 5-foot-6 power forward was also credited with an assist and now has a league-leading 12 goals. She ranks fourth in points with 20 in 17 contests. It's been a breakout year for Atkinson, a psychology and economics sophomore who scored only four goals and eight points 19 games during her freshman season.
Carleton's
Delaney Ross put the Ravens ahead 1-0 just 49 seconds into the contest before Atkinson tied it up at 11:24 and both teams entered the first intermission tied at 1-1.
Pamela Psihogios of Laval, Que., gave the Martlets a 2-1 lead at 4:26 of the second and
Cora Constantinou of Scarborough, Ont., doubled the advantage at 7:32.
Audrey-Ann Boutour got one back for the Ravens on the power play at 15:09, but
Gabrielle Davidson of Pte. Claire, Que., restored the two-goal lead with 23 seconds left in the period. It was the first regular season marker for Davidson, a prolific scorer who missed the entire first semester while recovering from a lingering injury suffered at the Nationals last spring. The speedy senior ranks fourth among McGill's all-time goal leaders and seventh in points with a 128-93-221 record in 170 games overall.
Valérie Bouillon narrowed the gap to 4-3 with another power-play goal at 3:06 of the third. On both Carleton power-play markers, it took only nine seconds for the Ravens to score.
Atkinson potted her second of the afternoon to restore McGill's two-goal cushion at 7:17 but Carleton's
Shannon Pearson replied just 30 seconds later. Daoust, the Martlets captain from Valleyfield, Que., put her team up 6-4 with a power-play effort at 9:34 and set up Atkinson for an empty-netter with 35 seconds left to close out the scoring.
Daoust also earned two assists, bringing her career total to 252 points, including 110 goals, in 132 McGill games overall. The 5-foot-6 centre also took over the league scoring race with 9-15-24 in 15 games, one point ahead of Ottawa's
Mélodie Bouchard, who has played one more game.
(SEE LIST OF McGILL ALL-TIME SCORING LEADERS BELOW)
McGill now boasts three of the top four scorers in the RSEQ conference, with
Marie-Philip Lavoie (7-14-21), a junior from Pohenegamook, Que., sitting third and Atkinson one point back in fourth.
"We got scoring from all four lines, so that was good," noted Smith. "I thought Gabby Davidson was terrific, this was her best game since she came back (from injury). She was really on the game. I had her playing on a line with Lavoie and
Shana Walker and that was a good group. Constantinou was better in this game as well. And the usual suspects played well -- Atkinson got the hat trick and her third goal was such a selfless play by Mélo, who could've easily shot the puck into the empty net but passed it over to Olivia to get her the hat trick."
Rookie netminder
Tricia Deguire of Sherbrooke, Que., saved 17 of 21 shots as her record improved to 12-3.
Jennifer Walker stopped 37 of 43 pucks in her first career start and took the loss for the Ravens.
The Martlets were 1-for-5 on the power-play while Carleton went 2-for-4.
With three games remaining before playoffs, McGill (13-4-0) next hosts the Montreal Carabins (9-7-1) on Feb. 11 at McConnell Arena. The Ravens (3-12-2) visit Concordia (9-7-1) on Feb. 10.
MARTLET MURMURS: McGill was without the services of their third-leading scorer,
Jade Downie-Landry, who was serving the first of a two-game suspension imposed by the league -- after reviewing video of a collision from last week's win over the Montreal Carabins -- on a play where no penalty was called. She owns a 7-7-14 record in 14 games, which ranks third among RSEQ freshman.
LINK TO COMPLETE BOXSCORE
SCORING SUMMARY
Carleton 4 at McGill 7
(Saturday, February 4, 2017 - McConnell Arena @ McGill)
GOALS BY PERIOD:
Carleton 1-1-2 -- 4
McGill 1-3-3 -- 7
1st Period-
1, Carleton,
Delaney Ross 8 (Guindon, Welk), 0:49.
2, McGill,
Olivia Atkinson 10 (Bowman, Lavoie), 11:24.
Penalties-Todd Mcg (hooking), 15:47; Boulianne Car (interference), 17:08.
2nd Period-
3, McGill,
Pamela Psihogios 1 (Chard, Ramos), 4:26.
4, McGill,
Cora Constantinou 1 (Walker, Cotter), 7:32.
5, Carleton,
Audrey-Ann Boutour 1 (Miners, Semkowski), 15:09 (PP).
6, McGill,
Gabrielle Davidson 1 (Lavoie, Atkinson), 19:37.
Penalties-Guindon Car (tripping), 4:51; Wilson Car (bodychecking), 9:16; Howlett Mcg (tripping), 14:56.
3rd Period-
7, Carleton,
Valérie Bouillon 1 (Beshera, Welk), 3:06 (PP).
8, McGill,
Olivia Atkinson 11 (Daoust, Bowman), 7:17.
9, Carleton,
Shannon Pearson 2 (Wilson), 7:47.
10, McGill,
Melodie Daoust 9 (Lavoie), 9:34 (PP).
11, McGill,
Olivia Atkinson 12 (Daoust, Lavoie), 19:25 (EN).
Penalties-served by Devries Mcg (too many men), 2:58; served by Boulianne Car (unsportsmanlike cnd.), 8:34; Beshera Car (hooking), 8:34; Constantinou Mcg (hooking), 10:56.
Shots on Goal-
Carleton 8-5-8 -- 21.
McGill 12-20-12 -- 44.
Power Play Opportunities-
Carleton 2 / 4;
McGill 1 / 5.
Goalies-
Carleton,
Jennifer Walker (L, 0-1-0, 43 shots-37 saves; 58:53).
McGill,
Tricia Deguire (W, 12-3-0, 21 shots-17 saves; 60:00).
Attendance: 181
Start: 2:05 PM
End: 4:07 PM
Length: 2:02
Referees-Patricia Pare, Judith Closset.
Linesmen-Laurie Longpre, Marie-Eve Couture.
THREE STARS:
1.
MCG - 2
Olivia Atkinson
2.
MCG - 15
Gabrielle Davidson
3.
MCG - 17
Melodie Daoust
| CAREER STATS (updated through Feb. 10, 2017) |
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| McGILL ALL-TIME SCORING LEADERS |
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| Seasons |
Player |
GP |
G |
A |
PTS |
PIM |
| 2007-12 |
Ann-Sophie Bettez |
196 |
148 |
175 |
323 |
74 |
| 2005-10 |
Vanessa Davidson |
203 |
145 |
158 |
303 |
209 |
| 2009-14 |
Katia Clement-Heydra |
206 |
121 |
177 |
298 |
38 |
| 2009-14 |
Leslie Oles |
199 |
144 |
149 |
293 |
324 |
| 2007-12 |
Cathy Chartrand (D) |
180 |
80 |
178 |
258 |
160 |
| 2011-17+ |
Melodie Daoust |
132 |
110 |
142 |
252 |
102 |
| 2012-17+ |
Gabrielle Davidson |
170 |
128 |
93 |
221 |
113 |
| 2003-08 |
Shauna Denis |
195 |
68 |
94 |
162 |
104 |
| 2007-12 |
Jordanna Peroff |
194 |
57 |
82 |
139 |
118 |
| 2006-09 |
Catherine Ward (D) |
109 |
34 |
104 |
138 |
52 |
| 2006-11 |
Carly Hill |
231 |
52 |
84 |
136 |
138 |
| 2016-17 RSEQ Women's Hockey Standings (updated after games of Feb. 4) • Classement de la saison régulière |
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