MONTREAL – Team captain Jade Downie-Landry of St. Jean sur Richelieu, Que., tallied twice but it was insufficient as her No.1 ranked McGill Martlets tasted a bitter defeat for the first time this season in a 5-2 setback to Concordia, Friday, in RSEQ women's hockey at the Ed Meagher Arena.

It snapped the team's win streak at eight, including a pair of non-conference games.
 
Audrey Belzile scored one goal and added a pair of assists to pace the unranked Stingers, who improved to 4-2-1 and sit three points in arrears of McGill, which fell to 6-1-0. The cross-town rivals have split the four games played this season, including a pair of preseason meetings. The contest marked the 144th matchup between the teams since a national championship was implemented in 1997 as McGill's lifetime record fell to 90-49-5.

Concordia led 1-0 after the opening period and tallied twice in the middle session to take a 3-1 lead heading into the intermission. The Martlets narrowed the gap to 3-2 early in the final stanza, but the Stingers rallied with another pair, including an empty-net marker.

"It took us a while to get going and Concordia played real well," said Alyssa Cecere, in her first official season as McGill bench boss. "They played a very structured and physical game. We'll use this as a learning experience, take some lessons away from why we lost as we prepare for our next game on Sunday."
 
Concordia forward Jessymaude Drapeau opened the scoring at 10:04 of the game. Downie-Landry evened the count at 5:33 of the second period. The Stingers responded with strikes from Stéphanie Lalancette at 15:15 and Rosalie Bégin-Cyr from St. Georges, Que., who was credited with the game winner at 18:51.

In the final period, Downie-Landry narrowed the gap to 3-2 on a power-play at 4:52. It was her league-leading seventh of the season for the fifth-year centre who has 14 points in seven games. In 150 career contests overall, Downie-Landry now owns an 83-103-186 career record.

Linemate Marika Labreque of Lac Etchemin, Que., set up both McGill goals and management senior now ranks second in the RSEQ conference scoring race with 13 points in seven games, including a league-leading 11 assists.
 
Rounding out the scoring for the Stingers was Marie-Pascale Bernier with an empty-netter.
 
Concordia had a 36-26 edge in shots, went 0-for-3 with the extra attacker, while McGill was 1-for-6.
 
Goalkeeper Alice Philbert of St. Bruno, Que., made 24 for the victory, while Tricia Deguire of Sherbrooke, Que., saved 31 and registered her first loss as her record fell to 5-1.

Now that McGill has fallen from the unbeaten ranks, that leaves only two undefeated teams left across the country, both from the OUA conference, namely Waterloo (4-0-0) and Nipissing (3-0-0)
 
McGill (6-1) travels to the nation's capital to play the Gee-Gees (3-4) at the Minto Sports Complex on Sunday (Nov. 21) in a 2 p.m. puck drop. Later that afternoon, Concordia (4-2-1) will make their way to Lennoxville. Que., to face Bishop's (3-4) at 3:30 p.m.

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