TROIS-RIVIERES – Four different players scored two goals apiece as No.3 ranked UQTR defeated No. 10 McGill 11-5 in OUA men's hockey at Le Colisée, Wednesday.
 
The result snapped McGill's win streak at five and was the first meeting between these bitter rivals in three weeks, since a 4-1 Redbirds victory on Oct. 20.

In a rare spectacle that featured all four goalies seeing duty, the Patriotes had a 41-31 edge in shots. They led 4-3 after the first period, and 7-3 after two.
 
Despite the high score, there were only five penalties called. McGill was 1-for-3 on the power-play but conceded a deflating shorthanded goal at 19:14 of the first period to give the Pats a 4-3 lead. The Redbirds only took two penalties and killed both.
 
Veteran goaltender Alexis Gravel started for the Patriotes and allowed three goals on 15 shots. Suffering an apparent injury to his left arm midway through the opening period, he was replaced at the start of the second frame by rookie Charles-Antoine Lavallee, who kicked aside 14 of 16 shots for the win, improving to 3-0 on the season.

Alexis Shank started for the Redbirds and was saddled with the loss, giving up nine goals on 25 shots. One of the goals was eerily similar to the 1986 Stanley Cup playoffs when Edmonton defenceman Steve Smith accidently banked a pass from behind his net off his goaltender Grant Fuhr. In this case, blueliner Scott Walford, who was making his first OUA start after missing eight games with an injury, fired a clearing shot that banked off of UQTR forechecker Vincent Milot-Ouellet, past a startled Shank, whose record dropped to 4-2. He was replaced by Fabio Iacobo, who saved 14 of 16 shots in 28:56.
 
Five different players scored for McGill, including defencemen Taylor Ford and Thomas Belzile, in addition to forwards Eric Uba, Mathieu Gagnon and Xavier Fortin.

It was the first career goal for Ford, the team captain from St. Lazare, Que., who has suited up in 133 games overall for McGill, including 98 regular season contests.
 
All of the Pats goals were tallied by forwards. Scoring twice each was Pier-Olivier Roy, Simon Lafrance, Charles Beaudoin and William Dumoulin. Singles went to Anthony Munroe-Boucher, Conor Frenette and the aforementioned Vincent Milot-Ouellet.

The Pats have a lifetime record of 174-96-17 against McGill since they first met in 1969, including a 123-63-16 mark in regular season play. The 11 goals by UQTR was the most allowed by McGill since an 11-3 exhibition loss to the Great Britain Selects in England on Dec. 30, 1994 and the highest total in OUA league play since an 11-2 setback at Laurier on Jan. 31, 1993, a span of 755 regular season contests.

McGill, which had a chance to move into second place in the OUA East Division, instead remained fifth of nine teams with a 5-3-1 record. Division-leading UQTR improved to 11-8-3 and moved three points ahead of Concordia (6-3-1) and Ottawa (6-2-1).
 
Both teams return to the ice on Nov. 11, with the Patriotes hosting Toronto (7-3-0), while McGill will confront York (3-6-0) in a 3 p.m. matinee at McConnell Arena. Saturday's game will mark the Redbirds's first meeting with York since 2017, a 3-2 victory that improved McGill's lifetime record to 22-12-6 in 40 meetings with the Lions.
 
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SOURCE
Earl Zukerman
Sports Information Officer
Athletics & Recreation
McGill University
514-983-7012 (cell)