MONTREAL -- A goal by Mathieu Bizier midway through the final period stood up as the winning tally for Concordia in a 2-1 men's hockey victory over McGill at McConnell Arena, Thursday.

The result evened their season record at 1-1 and narrowed McGill's lead to 112-110-14 lifetime, including a 59-49-7 mark on home-ice.

It put a mild damper on Homecoming Week as a plethora of former McGill players -- among them retired NHL coach Mike Babcock -- returned to their alma mater to see All-Canadian defenceman Marc-Andre Dorion be inducted earlier into the McGill Sports Hall of Fame, along with the 2011-12 national championship squad.

After a scoreless first period, the Stingers broke the ice in the second stanza when defenceman Samuel Desgroseilliers converted a three-way passing play to find the back of the net at the two-minute mark.

Bizier gave Concordia a two-goal cushion at 10:41 of the final frame but the Redbirds pushed back about four minutes later when freshman forward Evan Patrician tallied his first goal in a McGill uniform.

The home side weathered a first period 17-9 deficit in shots to finish with a 42-39 edge overall as both goaltenders shone on multiple occasions in their respective net. Their efforts put a dent into both power-plays, as Concordia was 0-for-3, while McGill was 0-for-4.

Concordia rookie Jonathan Lemieux made 41 saves to collect the win and improve his record to 2-1 on the season. Sophomore Alexis Shank tuned aside 37 pucks in a losing cause as his record dropped to 1-2.

McGill (1-1-1) will have a day of preparation before heading to Oshawa on Saturday to meet the Ontario Tech Ridgebacks (1-1) on Saturday in a 3 p.m. start that will be streamed free on OUA.tv. Concordia (2-1-0) plays in Oshawa on Sunday.

REDBIRDS RAP: Aside from Babcock and Dorion, among the many other Friends of McGill Hockey alumni in attendance included Martin Raymond, David Urquhart, Patrick Delisle-Houde, Michael Richards, Herb Madill, Pierre Gendron, Mario DeBenedictis, Mike Nelson, Ken Covo, Dan Gubiani, Michael Wells, John Harris, Paul Barber, Stephane Fortin, Dr. James Sproule, Gary Peacock, Martin Desrosiers, Luc Fournier, Evan Vossen, Hugo Laporte, Dan Jacob, Quinn Syrydiuk, Pierre-Antoine Paquet, Jocelyn Perreault, Marek Nesvadba, Jasmin Boutet, Geoffrey Phillips, Antoine Dufort-Plante, Michael Campoli, Marc-Andre Daneau, Neil Blunden, Benoit Leroux, Charles Gauthier, Alex Tremblay, Simon Marcotte-Legare and Leonard Verrilli, plus former assistant coaches Chris Laperle and Jean St-Pierre, along with retired equipment manager Earl Hawke.

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Earl Zukerman
Sports Information Officer
Athletics & Recreation
McGill University
514-398-7012 (Tel.)
www.mcgillathletics.ca
earl.zukerman@mcgill.ca