LENNOXVILLE, QUE – Laura Jardin of Calgary, scored two goals to spark a third-period comeback as McGill quadrupled the Bishop's Gaiters 4-1 in women's hockey en route to clinching first-place in the RSEQ regular season finale, Friday, at the Jane & Eric Molson Arena.

It was the fourth consecutive victory of the Martlets who finished atop the standings in the six-team Quebec league with a 12-3 record. McGill sits three points ahead of Concordia (10-5-1), which has one game left on its schedule, against Bishop's on Sunday. The Martlets will have home-ice advantage for the league's two playoff rounds, with the best-of-three semifinals slated to begin on Thursday, March 3 at McConnell Arena.

After Angelique Page of Ottawa gave the Gaiters a 1-0 lead at 13:30 of the middle period, McGill exploded in the final period, potting four goals in less than nine minutes to erase any doubt of winning the league pennant for the first time since 2016-17.

The floodgates opened after Mika Chang, a bio-engineering freshman from Toronto, collected her first career marker, on the power-play, at 8:39 of the third period.

Jardin, a 5-foot-6 forward, followed with back-to-back tallies at 10:22 with an extra attacker and at 14:46. In 15 league games, the environmental and agricultural science senior has registered career-highs in both goals (7) and points (13). Her previous best season was a pair of goals in each of her first two years.

Forward Makenzie McCallum put the contest out of reach at 16:58. The junior from Morden, Man., has a 6-6-12 record in 15 contests

Jade Downie-Landry, the conference scoring champion with 14-13-27 in 15 contests, was kept off the scoresheet for only the second time this season. The fifth-year centre from St. Jean, Que., continues to lead the nation in both goals and points. She is two points ahead of Saint Mary's sniper Shae Demale, who has 13-12-25 in four more contests and has three left to play.

McGill had a 37-28 advantage in shots, with goaltender Tricia Deguire of Sherbrooke, Que., making 27 saves to register the win. It was the 147th career appearance in a McGill uniform for Deguire, who owns an 89-52-1 record overall.

Her counterpart, Jade Shushu Soulnier-Cyr of Shediac, N.B., made 33 saved in a losing cause for Bishop's, making 33 saves.

The Martlets went 2-for-6 on the power-play, while snuffing out both shorthanded scenarios.

SCORING SUMMARY

RSEQ STATS & STANDINGS

McGILL SCORING LEADERS

U SPORTS STATS LEADERS

SOURCE:
Earl Zukerman
Sports Information Officer
Athletics & Recreation
McGill University
TEL: 514-398-7012
EMAIL: earl.zukerman@mcgill.ca