OTTAWA -- Tricia Deguire posted an 18-save shutout and Marika Labrecque notched the winning tally in her 100th career contest as No.6-ranked McGill skated to a 3-0 road victory over Ottawa to sweep their best-of-three semifinal series in RSEQ women's hockey, Saturday, at the Minto Sports Complex.

The Martlets, who improved to 21-12 overall, await the winner of Sunday's semifinal between Montreal and Concordia. They have also qualified for the U SPORTS Final Eight championship tournament in Charlottetown, PEI., March 12-15. It will mark McGill's 11th appearance in the past 12 years at nationals.

"Every year with our team it's a process and this year was no different," said head coach Peter Smith, who now owns a 532-229-33 career record in 794 games over his 20 seasons behind the McGill bench.  "What we have, is a group of really hard-working players who believe in the process and I think that is what pays off.

"We are relatively healthy now and we weren't healthy all year," added Smith of his squad, which only had nine skaters able to suit up for all 20 regular-season games. "We are healthier now and that makes a big difference."

McGill had a 24-18 advantage in shots in a contest that featured a combined 34 minutes in penalties and a whopping 15 power-play opportunities. The Martlets capitalized on two of nine PP chances and were perfect on all six penalty-killing scenarios. McGill's nine PP chances were the second-highest total for one team in Quebec league playoff history, behind the 12 that McGill had in a 9-0 victory over Carleton on Feb. 20, 2013. That game from seven years ago also had a conference record for two teams combined with 17 PP scenarios.

"We scored two on the power-play and the kill was perfect, you have to like that," Smith said. "We move the puck very well on the power-play and having two really good units makes a big difference. That is something we have this year over what we've had before. Makes it harder to defend."

It was the 26th career whitewash for Deguire, who now owns a 74-48-1 record in 127 contests overall. She ranks third among McGill's all-time shutout leaders, behind Olympians Charline Labonté (78) and Kim St. Pierre (27). Labonté posted a 155-16-3 record in 174 games overall, while St. Pierre registered a 50-40-12 mark in 103 appearances.

"Tricia has been real solid and that is what you want to happen at this time of year," noted Smith. "We're playing some good hockey right now and it's the right time of the year for that to happen."

After a scoreless opening period, McGill finally broke the ice in the middle stanza when Labrecque, a junior from Lac Etchemin, Que., scored through the five-hole on the PP, at 3:09. It was her second goal in as many playoff games and improved her career record to 29-43-72 overall.

Kate Devries, an imposing 5-foot-11 defenceman from Dollard des Ormeaux, Que., then found the back of the net on another man-advantage situation, with a slap-shot from the blue line, to make it 2-0 at 10:17 of the middle period. It was her eighth career marker in 107 games overall and first-ever in the post-season.

Stephanie Desjardins, a native of Grand Falls, N.B., who was suiting up for her 101st career contest, added an empty-netter at 17:59 of the final stanza, a split second after Gee-Gees yanked goaltender Aurelie Dubuc for an extra attacker. The rookie netminder blocked 21 of 23 shots faced and was saddled with the loss.

McGill returns to the ice on Feb. 27, for Game 1 of the League Championship Series against either Montreal or Concordia. That series is knotted at 1-1 and the rubber match is slated to be hosted by the Stingers on Sunday afternoon.

Game 2 of the LCS will be a Saturday matinee on Feb 29 and if a deciding game is necessary, it will be played on Sunday afternoon (Mar. 1).

MARTLET MURMURS: Forward Shana Walker dressed for the 180th time in school history... Team captain Emilia Cotter wore the McGill jersey for the 176th time, four shy of the school record for defencemen (180) held by Cathy Chartrand. The all-time McGill mark for most games played overall is 231 by Carly Hill, who played at both forward and defence from 2006 to 2011. Hill is one of three Martlets to reach the 200-game plateau, along with Katia Clement-Heydra (206) and Vanessa Davidson (203). Just missing that mark was Leslie Oles (199).