MONTREAL -- Gabrielle Davidson of Pte. Claire, Que., scored the game-winner with her fifth goal of the post-season as the fourth-ranked McGill University women's hockey team blanked Concordia 3-0 to capture the Dr. Ed Enos Cup as champions of the RSEQ conference, Saturday, at Ed Meagher Arena. It marked the 14th Quebec title for the Martlets and their ninth in 12 years.

It was the first of three championships won during the day for McGill, which also claimed both the men's and women's basketball titles at the RSEQ Final Four tournament held across town at the Centre Pierre-Charbonneau.

McGill, which took the opener of the best-of-three series 4-0 last Wednesday, improved to 81-39-3 against the Stingers in 123 lifetime meetings since women's hockey became formally sanctioned with a national championship in 1997. However both teams could cross paths again this season as they will now travel to Napanee, Ont., for the U SPORTS Final Eight Championship, hosted by Queen's from March 16-19, where McGill, as Quebec champs, will benefit from preferential seeding.

"It was a little bit different from the last game in that our first period was terrific," said Martlets head coach Peter Smith, who now owns a 470-181-32 overall record in 17 seasons behind the McGill bench "That was the best first period we've had in a while. The girls came out very well-prepared and it showed in our play in that first period in particular. And then we kept it up the whole game. In the third period we managed the puck and the scoreboard very well."

Martlets netminder Tricia Deguire, a 5-foot-7 freshman from Sherbrooke, Que., turned away 24 shots to earn her second consecutive shutout and now has 43 saves in two games. She improved her record to 4-1 in post-season play with a stingy 0.97 goals-against average and a .958 save percentage.

"A lot of their shots came from the outside but in the second period clearly we gave up too many shots and we tightened that up in the third," said Smith, whose side was outshot 14-6 in the middle stanza but roared back to lead the shot count 9-1 in the final frame. "Tricia's just so calm and steady back there and she gives her teammates and coaches a lot of confidence."

Davidson, a 5-foot-4 forward, tallied the opening goal on the power play at 4:46 of the first period, assisted by team captain Melodie Daoust of Valleyfield, Que. The fifth-year finance senior, who missed the entire first semester recovering from an injury suffered last spring, is the only Martlet to have scored in all five playoff games this season. She now has 134 career goals in 178 games, including 24 playoff markers in 26 post-season games.

"With her injuries earlier this year it was tough to get back at it, but she's back 100 per cent now and she's just flying out there," noted Smith. "She had another outstanding game today."

Lauren Bowman of Calgary, Alta., doubled the advantage at 17:07 of the frame for her fifth goal of the playoffs, set up by Daoust and Olivia Atkinson of Oakville, Ont. With two assists, Daoust improved her playoff record to 11 points, including three goals, in just five matches. She has either scored or assisted on 73.3 per cent of McGill's 15 playoff markers.

"Melodie was again just non-stop," said Smith. "I used her a lot and double-shifted her at times and she just keeps on going. She's so hard to play against and really again today just did a great job."

Shana Walker of North York, Ont., added an unassisted marker on goaltender Katherine Purchase at 14:10 of the second to make the score 3-0. Purchase allowed three goals on 25 shots for the Stingers and dropped to 2-2.

McGill was 1-for-4 on the power play and killed off four penalties, including a double-minor incurred midway through the first.

"Our kill was good," said Smith. "We had that four-minute PK and we were real good on that. It was just a solid effort by everybody."

The Martlets now get just over a week to prepare before departing on Mar. 14 for the three-hour bus trip to the Nationals in Napanee

LINK TO COMPLETE BOXSCORE
 
RSEQ BEST-OF-THREE FINAL SERIES (GAME 2)
SCORING SUMMARY
McGill 3 at Concordia 0
(Saturday, March 4, 2017 - Ed Meagher Arena @ Concordia)

GOALS BY PERIOD
McGill 2-1-0 -- 3
Concordia 0-0-0 -- 0

1st Period-
1, McGill, Gabrielle Davidson 5 (Daoust), 4:46 (PP).
2, McGill, Lauren Bowman 1 (Atkinson, Daoust), 17:07.
 
Penalties-Bernier Con (bodychecking), 4:13; MacKenzie Mcg (bodychecking), 5:27; Downie-Landry Mcg (butt-ending dble minor), 11:13.

2nd Period-
3, McGill, Shana Walker 1 (unassisted), 14:10.
 
Penalties-Daoust Mcg (tripping), 14:41.

3rd Period-
(No Scoring).
 
Penalties-Lavigne Con (bodychecking), 5:02; D'Onofrio Con (tripping), 9:08; Allard Con (hooking), 19:45.

Shots on Goal-
McGill 10-6-9 -- 25.
Concordia 9-14-1 -- 24.

Power Play Opportunities-
McGill 1 / 4;
Concordia 0 / 4.

Goalies-
McGill,Tricia Deguire (W, 4-1-0, 24 shots-24 saves; 60:00).
Concordia, Katherine Purchase (L, 2-2-0, 25 shots-22 saves; 60:00).

Attendance: 117
Start: 2:03 PM
End: 3:55 PM
Length: 1:52

Referees-Vanessa Morin, Patricia Pare.
Linesmen-Laurie Longpre, Elizabeth Mantha.
 
THREE STARS:
1. MCG - 17 Melodie Daoust
2. MCG - 15 Gabrielle Davidson
3. MCG - 33 Tricia Deguire