SHERBROOKE, Que. -- Forward Nicole Howlett scored one goal and added a pair of assists as fifth-place McGill stunned the division-leading Montreal Carabins 5-1 in an RSEQ women's hockey league game played Sunday before a crowd of 400 at the Complexe Sportif Thibault in Sherbrooke.

The Carabins, who were ranked No. 9 in the nation, gave up a home game to host this event and market their brand outside of Montreal. Instead, it was McGill that stole the spotlight, along with sophomore netminder Tricia Deguire, who played -- before a cheering arena filled with hometown friends and family -- for the first time since returning from an overseas stint with the Canadian national development team. The native of Sherbrooke made 18 saves for the win.

McGill, which outshot Montreal by a lopsided 41-19 margin, led 1-0 after the opening period and 4-1 after two. The Martlets also won the final stanza 1-0.

Howlett, a six-foot psychology junior from Delta, B.C., assisted on the game's opening goal scored by rookie Kellyane Lecours midway through the first period. She assisted on Jade Downie-Landry's game-winning marker at 1:12 and then scored her first of the year at 7:10 of the middle frame to give the Martlets a commanding 3-0 lead.

"Her game has really come along since the first semester," said McGill head coach Peter Smith, whose troops have now won two straight and posted a 5-1-2 record since a horrendous 0-4 start to the season. "Howlett's playing with a lot more speed now and we can see the difference since Christmas. She's had many scoring opportunities and a number of goals because she keeps her feet moving. It's not surprising that she scored two today. She's a big body out there, protects the puck well and has one of the best shots on the team."

Howlett, who had no goals after the team's first 20 games overall, has now struck pay dirt three times in her last three outings, including a pair against Guelph at the Theresa Humes tournament in late December.

Also in on each of the first three scoring plays was Lecours, an elementary education freshman from Victoriaville, Que., who is now the top scoring rookie in the Quebec league with nine points, including six goals, in nine contests.

Carabins forward Laurie Mercier narrowed the gap to 3-1 at 10:07 of the middle stanza but forward Christiana Colizza, a freshman from Sudbury, Ont., countered with a power-play marker just 99 second later and then added an empty-netter in the last period, giving her four goals in 10 league games.

"It was Chrissy's first game back since suffering an injury in early December (against the Carabins)," Smith noted. "She's a strong young kid, sees the ice well and handles the puck well. Like all first-year players, she had to figure out the structure that we use at the university level. She's smart, doing well in school and works hard. She has bought in completely and its paying off."

"We're finally getting some secondary scoring," added Smith, who was able to utilize a full 20-member dress-list for the first time in three games. "We had everybody going today and it was a good team effort, which is what you want to see."

Deguire collected her fourth win in 10 outings and then hosted the team's post-game meal, which was held at her family's house nearby.

Carabins freshman Maude Trevisan started between the pipes and took the loss, dropping to 3-4 on the season. She was beaten three times on 18 shots before being relieved at the 7:10 mark of the middle frame by fifth-year senior Marie-Pier Chabot, who conceded only one goal on 22 shots.

The Carabins were assessed 21 of the 29 penalty minutes dished out, including a major and automatic game misconduct to Catherine Dubois for a check-to-the-head infraction at 19:-06 of the second period.

McGill, which was unable to cash in on the major, went 1-for-4 on the power-play, while erasing all four shorthanded scenarios.

Montreal, which dropped to 8-2-4, still leads the RSEQ conference but is only two points ahead of the second-place Stingers (9-3-0). The Carabins play next on Jan. 19 at Concordia.

The Martlets (5-5-2) will head to the nation's capital next weekend for games at last-place Carleton (3-10-0) and third-place Ottawa (7-5-1), Jan. 19-20, respectively. With eight games remaining, a sweep would put McGill only one point back of third place and all but assure them of a playoff berth.

LINK TO SCORING SUMMARY

2017-18 RSEQ WOMEN'S HOCKEY STANDINGS
 

Rank	TEAM	GP	W	L	OTL	PTS	PCT	GF	GA	STK	P10	PIM
1	Montreal	14	8	2	4	20	0.714	34	27	0-1-0	6-2-2	127
2	Concordia	12	9	3	0	18	0.750	36	24	5-0-0	8-2-0	92
3	Ottawa	13	7	5	1	15	0.577	27	30	0-3-0	5-5-0	106
4	McGill	12	5	5	2	12	0.500	32	30	2-0-0	5-3-2	102
5	Carleton	13	3	10	0	6	0.231	15	33	0-8-0	1-9-0	118