Box Score
MONTREAL -- Jade Downie-Landry scored a pair of power-play goals, including the game-winner with 97 seconds remaining, as McGill tripled Ottawa 3-1 to draw first blood in the RSEQ women's hockey semifinals, Thursday, at McConnell Arena.

The best-of-three series resumes in the nation's capital at Minto Sports Complex on Saturday afternoon. If a deciding game is needed, it is slated to be played back in Montreal on Sunday. Both games are scheduled for 2 p.m.

The Martlets, who have now split their six meetings with the Gee-Gees this season, improved their lifetime head-to-head record to 103-24-7 in 134 meetings with Ottawa.
 
McGill had a lopsided 39-24 edge in shots, including an 11-5 effort in the second period. Goaltender Tricia Deguire, a 5-foot-8 senior from Sherbrooke, Que., turned away 23 of 24 shots for the win, as she upped her career record to 73-47-6 overall, including a 7-5 mark in post-season play.
 
"We played with a lot of energy in the game, had everyone going. Everybody contributed, that's what you need in the playoffs," said Martlet head coach Peter Smith. "We made some mistakes but when we did, Tricia was there to back us up, she had another strong game and we got timely goals from the power-play."
 
The Martlets went 2-for-7 on the power-play and snuffed out all three shorthanded situations. The team led the league in both categories during the regular season, with a 22.7 per cent success rate on the power-play and and an 89.8 per cent penalty-kill efficiency
 
"It has been the story with us all year, we are really good on the penalty-kill and the power play," said Smith of his troops, who tallied 35 even-strength markers in 20 games, along with 15 on the power-play and three shorthanded. "I'd like to see us score a few more 5-on-5 goals, but I can't complain about the specialty teams."
 
Downie-Landry, who hails from St. Jean sur Richelieu, Que., scored with an extra attacker at 9:40 of the opening period to put McGill ahead 1-0. Gee-Gees' veteran Melina Roy tied the game up 1-1 for her team at 3:57 of the middle period.
 
Downie-Landry, then capitalized on a check-to-the-head penalty called against Ottawa late in the third, to secure the game-winner off the stick of defenceman Kate Devries and forward Lea Dumais at 18:23 of the final stanza.
 
"Jade's been managing the puck well and I thought she was solid out there tonight," praised Smith of the psychology junior finished fourth in the conference scoring race this season, with eight goals in 15 games, and now leads the playoff scoring race with two markers.

"Also, Devries was real good on the back-end," Smith noted of Devries, an imposing 5-foot-11 senior, who led all McGill rearguards and ranked third among the leagues's rearguards with 13 points in 20 games. "She has had a great season and another good effort tonight."
 
Marika Labrecque, from Lac-Etchemin, Que., added an empty-netter with 60 seconds remaining.
 
Losing goaltender Aurelie Dubuc, a freshman from Trois-Rivieres, Que., was beaten twice on 36 shots before being pulled for an extra attacker in the final minute.
 
The winner of this series will not only advance to the RSEQ league championship series but also secure one of the two Quebec conference berths to the U SPORTS Final Eight national championship in Charlottetown, P.E.I., March 12-15.

In the other RSEQ semifinal series opener, the fourth-placed Montreal Carabins defeated top-seeded Concordia 2-1 in triple-overtime, scoring the winning tally at 42:21 of extra time. The longest overtime in league history is 59:20 when Carleton edged Ottawa 5-4 on Feb. 22, 2008. The longest involving a Quebec-based team 55:04, when McGill defeated UQTR 2-1 on Feb. 19, 2000.

SCORING SUMMARY

RSEQ STATS & SCOREBOARD