MONTREAL – Eric Uba of Kitchener, Ont., tallied his first two goals at the university level and nine different players scored for McGill in a lopsided 10-2 victory over Royal Military College in OUA men's preseason hockey at McConnell Arena, Saturday.
 
It marked the highest offensive output in a decade for McGill dating back over a span of 383 games to a 10-5 victory over Ottawa on Feb. 18, 2011.
 
The Redbirds, who had a 36-27 edge in shots, scored the game's first seven goals. They led 3-0 after the opening period, 7-1 after two and outscored the visitors 3-1 in the final stanza. The game featured a combined 23 penalties for 54 minutes. McGill went 4-for-8 on the power-play and erased all eight shorthanded situations.
 
"It's nice for the guys to get their first win in a while but the only real wins start counting in the regular season," said new head coach David Urquhart, who registered his first career victory as bench boss of the Redbirds. "I talked before the game about building a foundation. If you're building a pyramid, the wider your base, the higher you can go and that's what were looking to do right now. The outcome in the preseason is less important than the process that were going through. In these games, we are playing guys in different positions, watch them face adversity and see how they react to it. And that is what we're evaluating."
 
Uba, a 20-year-old finance freshman, scored McGill's sixth goal late in the middle period and then made the score 8-1 early in the third. The six-foot, 200-pound right winger is a product of the OHL, where he skated for the Guelph Storm and Flint Firebirds.
 
He was one of six McGill rookies to score their first collegiate marker. Two of them came from the blueline, with Scott Walford of Coquitlam, B.C., scoring once and setting up two others, while William Cyr of St. Constant, Que., contributed one goal and a helper.
 
Rounding out the rookie rally was Caiden Daley of Winnipeg, Alex Plamondon of Drummondville, Que., and Brandon Frattaroli of Pierrefonds, Que.
 
Other McGill marksmen were veterans Blake Hayward of Vancouver, B.C., Montrealer Phil Gilmour and Keanu Yamamoto, a fifth-year senior from Spokane, Wash., who tallied his second of the season and 40th career goal in a McGill jersey.
 
RMC forward Devin Leduc spoiled McGill's shutout bid at 19:50 of the second period. Teammate Christopher Paquette tallied the other Paladins marker, which made the score 8-2 around the eight-minute mark of the final period.
 
McGill goaltender Lucas Pfeil of Owen Sound, Ont., earned the victory in his first career start. A former netminder for the OHL's Kitchener Rangers, he turned aside all 16 shots faced, before being replaced at 11:13 of the second period by Alexis Shank, a Montreal Canadiens prospect, who saved nine of 11 shots.
 
"Hat's off to Lucas for his start," noted Urquhart. "RMC pushed hard at the beginning, especially on their power-play. They had a couple of good chances early and at that point, the game can go either way. He really stepped up and kept us in it, allowed us to get rolling and we stuck to our structure for the rest of the game."
 
Paladins starter Joey May was beaten five times on 26 shots before being relieved of his duties at the midway mark and took the loss. Owen Sikkes, his replacement, didn't fare much better, allowing five goals on 10 shots over the final 28:47.
 
This was the only scheduled meeting between these teams this season, as the coronavirus pandemic has caused a restructured divisional alignment in the OUA. McGill improved its lifetime record to 73-9-4 against the Paladins since the long-time rivals first crossed paths more than a century ago, in 1892.

Both teams return to action on Oct. 22, with RMC traveling to London to play Western while McGill heads across town to confront Concordia, in a 7:30 faceoff at the Ed Meagher Arena.

REDBIRDS RAP: Coach Urquhart unveiled his leadership group for the 2021-22 campaign... Centre Samuel Tremblay of St. Basile le Grand, Que., in his fifth year of eligibility, will serve once again as team captain. The alternate captains will be forwards Keanu Yamamoto and Jordan-Ty Fournier, a senior from Dorval, Que., along with senior defenceman Taylor Ford of St. Lazare, Que.
 
SCORING SUMMARY


SOURCE:
Earl Zukerman
Sports Information Officer
Athletics & Recreation
McGill University
514-398-7012 (Off.)
m.athletics.mcgill.ca (mobile website)
www.mcgillathletics.ca
earl.zukerman@mcgill.ca