MONTREAL – Lea Dumais of Beaconsfield, Que., scored a hat-trick, as seventh-ranked McGill toppled the No. 4 Montreal Carabins 4-1 in RSEQ women's hockey in front of an appreciative alumni Homecoming crowd at McConnell Arena, Saturday.
 
The result avenged a recent 3-1 loss to the Carabins on Oct. 25 and halted McGill's losing streak against UdeM at three. McGill's lifetime record is now 49-30 in 79 games overall against UdeM. McGill improved to 3-2-2 on the season, climbing into second-place in Quebec league standings surpassing Montreal, which suffered their third straight setback and fell to fourth with a 3-3-1 record.

"It was a total team effort today," said McGill head coach Peter Smith. "We've played some good games this season and came out on the short end. Tonight we were rewarded with some goals. We had everybody going."

The Martlets, who outshot Montreal 30-23, led 1-0 after the opening frame, 2-1 after two and tallied twice more in the final stanza.
 
"They scored with 8.9 seconds left in second period and we could have let it bother us but that didn't happen," continued Smith of Montreal's late lone goal by Alexandra Labelle that cut the lead to 2-1. "Last Friday we played very well against Concordia but lost. Sunday (in a 4-3 loss to last-place Carleton) we didn't play with any urgency at all. But we've learned a lesson every time. We knew we had to play with more urgency and the players responded."
 
Dumais, a 5-foot-6 centre, scored twice on the power-play. The 22-year-old management senior tallied at 16:22 of the first period while Annabel Faubert served a tripping penalty. She scored again at even strength midway through the second period and potted her third on another power-play at 16:16 of the third.
 
They were first goals in seven regular season games for Dumais who had found the net four times during the preseason. She upped her career total to 36 goals in 125 games overall. It was her fourth career hat-trick but her first since a 3-1-4 performance against St. Thomas in the quarter-final game at Nationals last spring (March 15/19).
 
Teammate and fellow West Islander Kate Devries collected assists on each of the three Dumais goals. The six-foot senior defenceman from Dollard des Ormeaux, Que., moved into the team-scoring lead with 1-4-5 in seven games.
 
Marika Labrecque, an education junior from Lac Etchemin, Que., also registered a three-point game. She assisted Dumais twice and added another on an empty-netter by Stephanie Desjardins at 18:01 of the final stanza. 
 
McGill went 2-for-5 on the power-play, courtesy of Dumais hitting the "daily double", and silenced the Carabins on all seven of their opportunities. The Martlets now lead the RSEQ conference with a staggering 93.8 per cent success rate on the PK, killing off 30 of 32 shorthanded situations.
 
Goaltender Tricia Deguire earned the win with 22 saves on 23 shots. The kinesiology senior from Sherbrooke, Que., improved her record to 3-3 in league play and 62-43-1 in 110 games overall since joining the team in 2016..
 
UdeM netminder Maude Trevisan was beaten four times on 29 shots in a losing cause and saw her record drop to 1-2.
 
The Carabins (3-3-1) have the chance to snap their surprising three-game skid when they visit Carleton (1-4-1) on Sunday (Nov. 17). Meanwhile, McGill will have a few days off to prepare for a trip to the nation's capital, where they will face the Gee-Gees (3-2-1) on Nov. 22.

FACES IN THE CROWD: Among the plethora of former Martlets spotted in the crowd for their alumni Homecoming Game were Canadian national team veterans Ann-Sophie Bettez and Cathy Chartrand. Others included alumni president Shauna Denis, plus Amey Doyle, Christine Hartnoll, Britt Privee, Kristin Leuszler, Joanne Cagianos, Jordanna Peroff, Peggy Donahue, Gillian Merrifield, Stephanie Pohlod, Dana Rittmaster, Gabrielle Davidson, Christina Smith, Natalie Smith, Gabrielle Smith, Rebecca Martindale, Adrienne Crampton, Chelsey Saunders, Darragh Hamilton, Michelle Daigneault, Lisa Zane, Stacie Tardif, Andrea Weckman, Leslie Oles, Brittany Smrke, Pam Psihogios, Emily Davies, Britt Fouracres, Kate Elzinga, Suzie Fujiki, Logan Murray, Marie-Pier Lavoie, Jasmine Sheehan and Alyssa Cecere.

SCORING SUMMARY

RSEQ STANDINGS & STATS