NAPANEE, Ont. -- Gabrielle Davidson of Pte. Claire, Que., tallied twice as fourth-seeded McGill tripled No.5 St. Francis Xavier 3-1 at the Strathcona Paper Centre on Thursday to advance to the semifinals of the U SPORTS women's hockey national championship.

The Martlets and their four-game win streak will face top-seeded UBC -- which defeated No. 8 Queen's 2-1 in Thursday's other quarter-final -- on Saturday at 3 p.m., with a berth in the final on the line. For StFX, their tournament will continue with a prime-time consolation game on Friday night at 7 p.m. Both games will be available on OUA.TV

CHAMPIONSHIP WEBSITE: http://en.usports.ca/championships/wice/index

StFX jumped to an early lead just 41 seconds into the game, after a stretch pass from Daley Oddy found its way onto the stick of X-Women captain Kara Power who streaked in alone on a breakaway and found the back of the net

"All in all, it's obviously great to get the win, but I'm not sure we played our complete game," said McGill head coach Peter Smith. "We didn't match their energy and they came out hard. We just weren't on in the first period. But in all fairness, they scored the first goal and we could have folded the tent but we didn't. We had a terrific second period-- the first few shifts of that period really set the tone, the girls did a great job. We got back onto our game in the second.

"They had a bit of a push-back in the third and we were maybe a little bit sloppy in our own end. But when you think about it, we have a bunch of players who've never played (at Nationals) and we have a bunch... who have never won here, because we didn't win that first game last year. The experience that we got from the game today is real important."

The Martlets were swept in both tourney games last year in Calgary, losing a quarter-final 4-2 to UBC, then suffering a shocking 2-1 to St. Thomas in the consolation round.

Davidson, a 5-foot-4 forward who now has seven goals in six post-season contests, evened the score at 13:38 of the first, assisted by Alison MacKenzie and Cora Constantinou.

Jade Downie-Landry of St. Jean sur Richelieu, Que., netted the eventual game-winner at 9:11 of the second. Her goal was the prettiest of the afternoon, as she took a slick Olivia Atkinson feed before deking out goaltender Ariana Orasanin.

"We knew that they try to get fast breaks, move the puck up quick and forecheck our "D" hard but we stuck to our game plan," said Atkinson, who hails from Oakville, Ont., and was named as McGill's player of the game. "It set the tempo for the weekend and were pumped going into our next game."

Davidson then potted her second of the contest, a power-play marker at 17:45 of the middle frame. Emilia Cotter and Melodie Daoust drew assists.

"Gaby's unbelievable," said Smith of his fifth-year sniper. "She's just so smooth and makes so many things happen. She was great. Daoust and Atkinson were good too and Tricia was solid in net, so we had lot of good performances. (But) we can be better and we know that."

Martlets goaltender Tricia Deguire, a 5-foot-7 freshman from Sherbrooke, Que., who was named U SPORTS rookie of the year on Wednesday, made 22 saves on 23 shots for the win, improving to 5-1 in post-season play.

At the other end of the ice, Orasanin allowed three goals on 24 shots for StFX.

The third period passed without much incident, as StFX pressed but was unable to generate much towards Deguire in the McGill net.
 
"We had a good third, but (we had) two glaring mistakes in the second and they're going to bury on those," said StFX head coach David Synishin. "You want to win, but it just wasn't there for us today. Our girls didn't quit and I'm proud of their effort."

McGill was 1-for-4 on the power play and perfect on three penalty kills. The Martlets have now killed of their last  10 PK situations in post-season play.

"We''ve done real well all year and we just have to play our game," said Smith of his team's recipe for success. "I didn't think we did that in the game today. But getting the first game under our belt is huge. When you have such a young team, that's what they need (for their confidence)."

GAME NOTES: McGill, now 28-11-1 overall, entered nationals as RSEQ champions following a two-game sweep of No.7 Concordia...StFX, which dropped to 21-15 overall, came to Napanee off the back of a 3-2 triple-overtime loss in the decisive third game of the AUS finals against No.3 Saint Mary's...StFX goaltender Ariana Orasanin, a fourth-year student, made her competitive debut in November 2016...                                   

LINK TO COMPLETE BOXSCORE

SCORING SUMMARY
St. Francis Xavier 1 at McGill 3
(Thursday, March 16, 2017 - Strathcona Paper Centre)

GOALS BY PERIOD:
St. Francis Xavier 1-0-0 -- 1
McGill 1-2-0 -- 3

1st Period-
1, St. Francis Xavier, Kara Power 1 (Oddy), 0:41.
2, McGill, Gabrielle Davidson 1 (MacKenzie, Constantinou), 13:38.
 
Penalties-Mcg Bench (too many men, served by Downie-Landry), 1:50; Noseworthy Stfx (body checking), 6:56; Winters Stfx (interference), 17:26.

2nd Period-
3, McGill, Jade Downie-Landry 1 (Atkinson), 9:11.
4, McGill, Gabrielle Davidson 2 (Cotter, Daoust), 17:45 (PP).
 
Penalties-Oddy Stfx (hooking), 16:33.

3rd Period-
No Scoring.
 
Penalties-Lavoie Mcg (slashing), 7:51; Constantinou Mcg (hooking), 14:45; Oddy Stfx (interference), 18:00.

Shots on Goal-
St. Francis Xavier 6-9-8 -- 23.
McGill 9-10-5 -- 24.

Power Play Opportunities-
St. Francis Xavier 0 / 3;
McGill 1 / 4.

Goalies-
St. Francis Xavier,
Ariana Orasanin (L, 0-1-0, 24 shots-21 saves; 60:00).
McGill,
Tricia Deguire (W, 1-0-0, 23 shots-22 saves; 60:00).

Attendance: 200
Start: 2:58 PM
End: 4:56 PM
Length: 1:58

Referees-Lacey Senuk.
Linesmen-Allyson Middaugh, Justine Todd.
 
PLAYERS OF THE GAME:
McGill - 2 Olivia Atkinson
St. Francis Xavier - 12 Kara Power


SCHEDULE & RESULTS (All times ET)
 
Thursday, March 16
Quarter-final 1: No.4 McGill 3, No.5 StFX 1 (OUA.TV)
Quarter-final 2: No.1 UBC 2, No.8 Queen's 1 (OUA.TV)
 
Friday, March 17
11:00 a.m. Quarter-final 3: No.3 Saint Mary's vs No.6 Alberta (OUA.TV)
3:00 p.m. Quarter-final 4: No. 2 Guelph vs. No. 7 Concordia (OUA.TV)
7:00 p.m. Consolation 1: No.5 StFX vs. No.8 Queen's  (OUA.TV)
 
Saturday, March 18
11:00 a.m. Consolation 2: Loser QF 3 vs. Loser QF 4 (OUA.TV)
3:00 p.m. Semifinal 1: No.4 McGill vs. No.1 UBC (OUA.TV)
7:00 p.m. Semifinal 2: Winner QF 3 vs. Winner QF 4 (OUA.TV)
 
Sunday, March 19
11:00 a.m. 5th-place game (OUA.TV)
3:00 a.m. Bronze (OUA.TV)
7:00 p.m. Final (OUA.TV)  

===================================================================


QF 1: Championnat de hockey féminin U SPORTS 2017 
Les Martlets vainquent StFX 3-1 en ouverture de championnat

NAPANEE, Ont. (U SPORTS) – Les Martlets de McGill ont battu les tenaces X-Women de StFX par la marque de 3-1 jeudi après-midi au Centre Stratchona Paper en ouverture du championnat de hockey féminin 2017 de U Sports.
 
SITE WEB DE CHAMPIONNAT: http://fr.usports.ca/championships/wice/index
 
McGill atteint ainsi la demi-finale nationale et affrontera samedi à 19h HE l'équipe gagnante du duel UBC-Queen's. Les hockeyeuses de StFX se retrouvent quant à elles du côté consolation et seront de retour en action vendredi à 19h. Ces deux matchs seront diffusés au OUA.TV. 
 
« En bout de ligne, c'est bien d'avoir récolté la victoire, même si nous n'avons pas offert notre performance la plus satisfaisante, a mentionné l'entraîneur-chef des Martlets, Peter Smith. Nous avons une équipe jeune et les filles étaient peut-être un peu nerveuses en première période. C'est une bonne chose que ce premier gain soit derrière nous.
 
Gabrielle Davidson, de McGill, a été la plus productive dans cette rencontre avec deux buts. 
 
La recrue de l'année Tricia Deguire a été solide devant le filet des Martlets avec 22 arrêts sur 23 tirs. Son opposante Ariana Arasanin a bloqué 21 des 24 tirs dirigés vers elle dans la défaite.
 
Kara Power a brisé la glace pour les X-Women après seulement 41 secondes de jeu en déjouant Deguire sur une échappée. 
 
Davidson a créé l'égalité à 13 :38 du premier tiers avec un tir frappé entre les jambières d'Arasanin. 
 
Les Montréalaises ont pris le contrôle du match au deuxième engagement grâce à des buts de Jade Downie-Landry et du deuxième de Davidson, portant le pointage à 3-1 avant le deuxième entracte. 
 
Au cours d'une troisième période sans histoire, StFX a augmenté la pression, sans toutefois générer de réelles chances de marquer.
 
« Nous avons bien joué en troisième période, mais nos deux erreurs coûteuses au deuxième tiers avaient déjà causé des dommages, a dit David Synishin, entraîneur-chef de StFX. Nous voulions gagner, mais ce ne fut pas suffisant aujourd'hui. Les filles n'ont jamais abandonné et je suis très fier de leur effort malgré le revers. »
 
NOTES DE MATCH : McGill a entamé le championnat en tant que championnes du RSEQ suite à un balayage de deux matchs de Concordia, classées septièmes… StFX s'est présentée à Napanee après avoir encaissé un revers en troisième période de prolongation lors du match ultime de la finale de SUA face à Saint Mary's, troisièmes favorites…La gardienne de StFX Ariana Arasanin, une étudiante de quatrième année, a fait ses débuts en compétition en novembre 2016…
 
SOMMAIRE
 
Statistiques officielles : http://fr.usports.ca/championships/wice/2017/boxscores_champ/20170316_vrsi.xml
 
PREMIÈRE PÉRIODE
1. STFX Kara Power, (1) (Daley Oddy), 0:41
1. MCG Gabrielle Davidson, (1) (Alison MacKenzie, Cora Constantinou), 13:38
 
PÉNALITÉS :
Banc (MCG), joueuse en trop, servi par Downie-Landry , 1:50 ?Noseworthy (STFX), mise en échec, 6:56 
Winters (STFX), obstruction, 17:26 
 
DEUXIÈME PÉRIODE
2. MCG Jade Downie-Landry, (1) (Olivia Atkinson), 9:11 ?3. MCG Gabrielle Davidson, (2) (Emilia Cotter, Melodie Daoust), 17:45 (AN)
 
PÉNALITÉS :
Oddy (STFX), accroché, 16:33 
 
TROISIÈME PÉRIODE
(Aucun but).
 
PÉNALITÉS :
Lavoie (MCG), coup de bâton, 7:51
Constantinou (MCG), accroché, 14:45
Oddy (StFX), obstruction, 18:00
 
BUTS (par période)
StFX 1-0-0: 1 
MCG 1-2-0: 3
 
TIRS AU BUT (par période)
StFX 6-9-8: 23
MCG 9-10-5: 24
 
AVANTAGE NUMÉRIQUE :
StFX 0-3
MCG 1-4
 
GARDIENNES DE BUT
StFX — Ariana Orasanin (D, 0-1, 24 tirs, 21 arrêts, 3 BC, 60:00)
MCG — Tricia Deguire (V, 1-0, 23 tirs, 22 arrêts, 1 BC, 60:00)
 
JOUEUSE DU MATCH
StFX: Kara Power 
MCG: Olivia Atkinson
 
ARBITRE: Lacey Senuk
JUGES DE LIGNE: Allyson Middaugh, Justin Todd
 
ASSISTANCE: (pas disponible)
 
DÉBUT: 2:58
FIN: 4:56
DURÉE: 1:58
 
CALENDRIER ET RÉSULTATS (toutes les heures à l'heure de l'est)
 
Jeudi 16 mars
Quart de finale 1: No4 McGill 3, No5 St-FX 1
Quart de finale 2: No1 UBC 2, No8 Queen's 1
 
Vendredi 17 mars
11h00 Quart de finale 3: No3 Saint-Mary's contre No6 Alberta (OUA.TV)
15h00 Quart de finale 4: No2 Guelph contre No7 Concordia (OUA.TV)
19h00 Consolation 1: StFX contre Queen's (OUA.TV)
 
Samedi 18 mars
11h00 Consolation 2: Perdant QF 3 vs. Perdant QF 4 (OUA.TV)
15h00 Demi-finale 1: McGill contre UBC (OUA.TV)
19h00 Demi-finale 2: Gagnant QF 3 vs. Gagnant QF 4 (OUA.TV)
 
Dimanche 19 mars
11h00 Match de la 5e place (OUA.TV)
15h00 Match de la médaille de bronze (OUA.TV)
19h00 Finale (OUA.TV)
 

 
Pour plus d'information, veuillez contacter:
 
Ken Saint-Eloy
Gestionnaire, communications
U SPORTS
Cell: 647-871-7595
ksainteloy@usports.ca 
 
Alan Hudes 
Coordonnateur, communications
U SPORTS
Bur.: 905-508-3000 poste 242
Cell: 647-991-5343
ahudes@usports.ca
 
Shawn MacDonald
Université Queen's
Bur.: (613) 533-6000 poste 36990
Cell: (613) 484-6763
shawn.macdonald@queensu.ca