TROIS-RIVIERES, Que -- An early goal by Maxime Chagnon of St. Hubert, Que., after just just 24 seconds of play, proved to be the game winning tally as top-seeded UQTR held on for a 1-0 victory over eighth-seeded McGill in the OUA East men's hockey final, before an announced crowd of 1,553 at Le Colisee Jean-Guy Talbot, Wednesday.

UQTR advances to the gold medal game for the Queen's Cup championship against Brock in St. Catharine's, Ont., Saturday. The Badgers upset top-seeded Ryerson 5-2 in the OUA West final, so McGill will travel to Toronto on Saturday for the OUA bronze medal game against Ryerson at the Mattamy Athletics Centre, formerly known as Maple Leaf Gardens. At stake is a berth at the U SPORTS Final Eight national championship.

Rookie Jonathan Brisson of Ste. Sophie Que., posted a 16-save shutout as the Patriotes had a lopsided 34-16 edge in shots but were unable to solve McGill goaltender Emanuel Vella, after the first shot of the contest. The 6-foot-4, 191-pound management junior from Toronto made 33 saves in a losing cause.

A large part of the shot discrepancy was the fact that McGill spent 16 minutes in the penalty box, twice as long as the Pats. UQTR was 0-for-6 on the power-play, while McGill was 0-for-2.

The final score marked the third 1-0 result involving McGill this season and in two of them, the Redbirds were on the losing end, including a setback at Concordia. The lone 1-0 win was at Carleton.

The upcoming OUA bronze medal game at Ryerson features a Rams team that finished first in the OUA Mid-West division with an 11-4-0 record. Their schedule consisted only of games  against Toronto (9-6-2), Brock (7-5-2), York (6-8-2) and Lakehead (6-9-1).

It will mark the first meeting between McGill and Ryerson since a 4-3 victory for the Rams on Sept. 23, 2017. In that contest, the game winner proved to be an empty net goal by Aaron Armstrong, who later transferred to McGill for a second degree. McGill owns a lifetime 43-9-1 record in 53 meetings overall with the Rams.

FACES IN THE CROWD: Among the former McGill players who made a trip to Trois-Rivieres to see the game was McGill Sports Hall of Fame inductee Pierre Gendron (1994-97), former team captain Luc Fournier (1994-99), Justin Ducharme (2011-14), Greg Leblanc (2001-05) and Marc-Andre Daneau (2008-12), who was a key player on McGill's national championship squad in his senior year.

SCORING SUMMARY

OUA PLAYOFF STANDINGS

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