MONTREAL -- Brandon Frattaroli of Pierrefonds , Que., netted his first career hat-trick as McGill skated to a convincing 4-1 victory over the visiting Ontario Tech Ridgebacks in an OUA East second-place showdown at McConnell Arena, Saturday.

McGill had a 37-18 edge in shots on net.

The result vaulted McGill into sole possession of second place in the nine-team OUA East division with an 8-3-3 record, nestled two points behind division-leading UQTR (11-3-0) and one point ahead of Concordia (9-4-0) and Ontario Tech (8-4-2).

It also marked the Redbirds's second win in as many meetings against Ontario Tech this season and the result improved McGill's lifetime record to 20-3 over the Ridgebacks, including a 10-2 mark on home ice.

"We stuck to (the game plan) all night and that's what we needed to do, especially on the second night of back-to-back games with travel involved for both teams," said McGill head coach David Urquhart. "We stuck to it, waited for opportunities and then capitalized. There are some nights in this league where you have to wear the other team down and this was one of them. We had everyone rolling tonight and it didn't matter who we had on the ice. Everyone was able to match that energy and enthusiasm."

The visitors opened the scoring midway through the first period when Justin Svenson connected on a power-play.

But Frattaroli then moved into high gear and produced a natural hat-trick. The 5-foot-11, 196-pound centre scored a power-play marker at 14:37 of the first, then put McGill ahead 2-1 at 18:01 of the middle stanza and made it 3-1 at 10:42 of the third. A 22-year-old industrial and labour relations sophomore, Frattaroli now has eight goals and 15 points in 14 games to rank ninth among league leaders in both categories.

"He had a big night tonight and was able to get goals from around the blue paint (in the goal crease)," Urquhart said. "To score goals in this league, you've got to be in that area. The pretty goals that you see on the highlights don't happen that often. The bulk of the goals that are scored happen around the blue paint, with rebounds, tipped shots, second chances and that's where he was."

Eric Uba of Kitchener, Ont., added an empty-netter to put the game out of reach with his team-leading 10th of the season. He also had two goals in Friday's shootout loss at Carleton and now ranks fourth among OUA goal leaders.

"Uba was outstanding in both games this weekend," noted Urquhart. "He played a man's game, was strong on the puck, played with confidence and was physical when he didn't have the puck. When you have a guy who leads the team in goals and also leading the pace with his physicality, that's a good sign for the rest of the guys to jump on the ice and follow that lead."

Scott Walford of Coquitlam, B.C., collected an assist and moved back into the OUA lead for defencemen scoring, with a 1-14-15 record. The 6-foot-1, 195-pound economics junior logged a lot of ice time and was also whistled down for his first penalty of the season, a tripping infraction at 11:07 of the third period. A product of the WHL's Victoria Royals and Saskatoon Blades, Walford was a third-round draft pick of the Montreal Canadiens in 2017. 

McGill sophomore goaltender Alexis Shank of Laval, Que., made 17 saves for the win, evening his record at 4-4.  Leif Hertz, a senior from Kingston, Ont., made 33 saves and took the loss, dropping to 5-4.

The Ridgebacks were 1-for-3 on the power-play, while McGill was 1-for-2.

Both teams return to the ice on Dec. 2, when McGill hosts Ottawa (9-6-0) and Ontario Tech hosts last-place Nipissing (1-11-2). Both game are slated for a 7 p.m. start. The Redbirds will then close out the first semester with a home game against Queen's (Dec. 3) in the last meeting of the regular season between these long time foes. A large crowd is expected for that event, which will be the 192nd lifetime meeting in a rivalry that dates back to their first confrontation more than a century ago, in 1892.

REDBIRDS RAP: Longtime assistant coach Jean St-Pierre missed his first home game in 26 years. He showed up minutes after the game had ended, unaware that the opening faceoff had been slated for 4 pm, instead of the usual 7 p.m.  start... Among the faces in the crowd was McGill Sports Hall of Fame inductee Mathieu Poitras, an All-Canadian goaltender who played for the Red and White from 2004 to 2008... Also spotted was Michael Richards (1958-1963), Mike Nelson (1978-1984) and former McGill head coach Ken Tyler (1979-1988), who was visiting from his current home in Warsaw, Poland.

SCORING SUMMARY

OUA STANDINGS & STATS

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