NORTH BAY, Ont – Defenceman Scott Walford, a 2017 third-round Montreal Canadiens draft pick from Coquitlam, B.C., scored an early power-play goal and assisted on the insurance marker as eighth-seeded McGill sunk the No. 4 Nipissing University Lakers 3-1 in an OUA East men's hockey semifinal at Memorial Gardens, Saturday.

It was the second consecutive sudden-death playoff victory for McGill – currently ranked No. 10 in the national Top 10 – which improved to 11-14-0 overall. The Redbirds will meet top-seeded UQTR (14-5-2 overall)  in the OUA Eastern final on Wednesday (March 23) in a 7 p.m. start at the Colisee Jean-Guy Talbot. The Patriotes advanced with a 6-3 home-ice victory over the Ontario Tech Ridgebacks on Saturday.

Normally, a one-game series on the road would be a tall order for a youthful squad like McGill but the Redbirds own a stellar 9-3 overall record away from home this season, including an unblemished 2-0 mark in Trois-Rivieres.

Special teams played a key role in McGill's conquest as the Redbirds went 2-for-4 on the power-play and erased all three shorthanded situations.

"It feels great, we're starting to play with confidence and beginning to understand what it takes to win," said McGill head coach David Urquhart. "With a young team, it has taken some time over the season to learn the right way to play and the guys are now understanding it at the right time of the year. So it's good to see, as a coach, that we've built some confidence and momentum and we believe in ourselves."

Walford, a 6-foot-1, 195-pound rearguard who sat out McGill's quarter-final win at Queen's on Wednesday due to injury, made a triumphant playoff debut against Nipissing. The 23-year-old economics sophomore fired a heavy wrist shot from the blue line that found the top right corner past screened netminder Michael Herringer on a power-play at 5:49 of the opening period.

Freshman centre Brandon Frattaroli of Pierrefonds, Que., gave McGill a two-goal cushion with another PP marker at 5:35 of the middle stanza. It was an unassisted play as he jumped on a loose puck in the McGill end, made his way up into the Nipissing zone on a 2-on-1 break with Jordan-Ty Fournier, used him as a decoy, then banked a shot off the far post.

Less than seven minutes later, Walford took a pass from goaltender Emanuel Vella and connected on a long pass with Fournier, a native of Dorval, Que., who scored to put the Redbirds an iron-clad grip on the taste of victory.

"It was pretty fast-paced, especially in the first period, and we came out with a really good start," Urquahrt added. "As the game went on,  we got a three-goal lead and played well with it, something that we haven't done too often this season.... It was a boost for the power-play to have Wolford back, and we haven't had a lot of advantages over the last three games. But we've moved the puck well during that time and despite not scoring the last few games, I thought that we were able to generate momentum with our chances every time that we had them. We knew from pre-scouting their game against Ottawa last week, that there was a good chance to see a lot of special teams play, so we spent a lot of time on that and it paid off."

The Lakers pressed in the final stanza, outshooting McGill 10-5 and it paid off when third-year forward Jacob Collins spoiled Vella's bid for his first career shutout at 8:41.

"The game kind of opened up in the third period when they got their goal but our guys stuck with it and returned to our structured style of play," said Urquhart.

Vella, a 6-foot-4, 191-pound sophomore from Toronto, finished with 32 saves and improved to 2-0 lifetime in post-season play. He now has four career assists in 22 appearances. The McGill assist record for goalies is 13 by Jamie Reeve, who played in 123 games from 1985 to 1990.

Nipissing freshman Michael Herringer was beaten three times on 36 shots and took the loss.

McGill improved its lifetime record against Nipissing to 25-5 in 30 confrontations.

By reaching the OUA Final Four, the loser of the upcoming OUA Eastern Final will advance to the bronze medal game against the loser of the OUA West Conference Final between Ryerson and Brock. Since the league has three berths at the national championship, all three medal winners from the OUA Final Four will advance to the U SPORTS Final Eight, March 31 to April 3, in Wolfville, N.S.

SCORING SUMMARY

OUA SCOREBOARD & STATS


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