SHERBROOKE -- Hometown hero
Tricia Deguire, registered a 21-save shutout and four different players scored as eighth-ranked McGill thwarted top-ranked Montreal 4-0 in RSEQ women's hockey at Complexe Sportif Thibault in Sherbrooke Que., Sunday afternoon.
It was the second annual showcase played in Sherbrooke between these teams as part of a joint pilot project to promote and grow the women's game outside of Montreal.
The result marked a second loss of the weekend for the Carabins (3-2), who will no doubt tumble from their top spot in the national rankings. The Martlets, who now have an unblemished 4-0 record, improved their head-to-head record with the Carabins to 47-23-0 in 70 lifetime meetings.
The Martlets, who outshot Montreal by an overwhelming 40-21 margin, scored once in the first, twice in the second and added one more in the final stanza.
"We played a very structured, smart game," said McGill head coach
Peter Smith, whose troops are coming off a disappointing 9-9-2 season. "I couldn't be prouder of the girls, our team is mostly the same players from last year and they really have done a good job of figuring things out and learning. They knew last season that things needed to change and they have done very well."
Deguire, a 21-year-old kinesiology junior, improved her record to 4-0 in league play. The 5-foot-8 netminder recorded her second consecutive shutout and 15th career goose egg in 78 games overall. It ws McGill's first consecutive shutouts in league play since Deguire's rookie season when she blanked Concordia as McGill swept the 2017 RSEQ best-of-three championship series.
"Tricia is a local girl, a bit of a hero here. Lots of little kids look up to her in this town and they waited afterwards to get a signature and handshake," noted Smith.
Lea Dumais, a forward from Beaconsfield, Que., who has become a scoring sensation, tallied what proved to be the game-winner at 18:05 of the first period. The 5-foot-6 management junior is second in the conference scoring race with seven points, including four goals in just four games. In her previous two seasons, she had a 5-5-10 record in 40 regular season contests.
Jade Downie-Landry of St. Jean sur Richelieu, Que., gave the Martlets a two-goal cushion at 10:41 of the second period. It was the first goal of the season for the 5-foot-9 power forward who leads the league scoring race with nine points in four games.
Just 24 seconds later, sophomore
Christiana Colizza of Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., connected for her first of the season.
Olivia Ramos, a junior from New Westminster, B.C., concluded the scoring with her first of the campaign at 12:40 of the final stanza.
Carabins netminder
Aube Racine saved 36 of 40 shots in a losing cause.
McGill went 0-for-2 on the power-play and killed off both of their penalties. The Martlets only have one power-play goal in 10 chances over their four league games but they have yet to concede a goal on the penalty-kill, erasing all six penalties taken.
Montreal, which dropped to 3-2-0, now shares second place with Concordia (3-2-0) in the RSEQ conference, only two points behind the division-leading Martlets (4-0-0). The Carabins play next at Ottawa (1-3) on Nov. 9.
The Martlets will host last-place Carleton (0-4-0) on Nov. 10 at McConell Arena. Puck drop is set for 3 p.m.
SCORING SUMMARY
2018-19 RSEQ WOMEN'S HOCKEY STANDINGS
| 1 |
McGill |
4 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
8 |
1.000 |
15 |
2 |
4-0-0 |
4-0-0 |
14 |
| 2 |
Concordia |
5 |
3 |
2 |
0 |
6 |
0.600 |
11 |
7 |
2-0-0 |
3-2-0 |
24 |
| 3 |
Montreal |
5 |
3 |
2 |
0 |
6 |
0.600 |
12 |
7 |
0-2-0 |
3-2-0 |
26 |
| 4 |
Ottawa |
4 |
1 |
3 |
0 |
2 |
0.250 |
5 |
13 |
1-0-0 |
1-3-0 |
30 |
| 5 |
Carleton |
4 |
0 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0.000 |
3 |
17 |
0-4-0 |
0-4-0 |
36 |
