OTTAWA – Evan Boucher, a freshman from Ottawa, scored the lone goal in a post-overtime shootout as the No.9 ranked Gee-Gees defeated No.7 McGill 2-1 in OUA men's hockey at the Minto Sports Complex, Tuesday.
 
The result pushed Ottawa (12-4-1) into sole possession of second place, one point ahead of McGill (11-4-2), in the tightly-packed OUA East division. Heading into the December break for exams and holidays, only five points separate the top seven schools in the nine-team division, with UQTR in first at 13-4-0 and Ontario Tech in seventh at 10-7-1.
 
After two scoreless periods between these evenly-matched rivals, Gee-Gees rookie Luka Verreault of Rimouski, Que., opened the scoring with his ninth of the season at the two-minute mark of the third stanza. McGill forced overtime when freshman Charles-Antoine Dumont replied with his sixth at 14:35.
 
The seven-minute overtime session settled nothing although McGill had a glorious chance for a buzzer-beater but sniper Eric Uba was thwarted by goaltender Franky Lapenna, who turned aside 37 of 38 shots, plus all three in the shootout, for the win.
 
McGill netminder Alexis Shank saved 35 of 36 shots in a losing cause as his record dropped to 8-4.
 
Ottawa had a 38-37 edge in shots, counting the shootout goal, which doesn't count against the goalie. Both teams were scoreless on the power-play, with McGill going 0-for-2, while Ottawa was 0-for-3.
 
This was the first of two scheduled meetings between these cross-border rivals since McGill swept Ottawa 2-0 in the OUA East best-of-three quarter-finals last spring. McGill owns a 110-94-10 lifetime record against the Gee-Gees since they first met in 1968.
 
The Redbirds are 14-7-2 overall heading into the break and will play a non-conference game against the NCAA's Yale Bulldogs (2-8-0) in New Haven, Conn., on Dec. 31 with a 2 p.m. puck-drop. it will be McGill's 250th lifetime game against an NCAA opponent in a series led by the American collegians, who hold a 128-111-10 record since a 14-1 won over Harvard in 1897.  This will be McGill's first meeting with Yale since a 4-1 loss on Nov. 29, 2019. The teams are deadlocked at 16-16 lifetime against each other in a series that dates back more than a century to a 2-0 McGill conquest on Jan. 1, 1913 in Boston.
 
The Gee-Gees are off until Jan. 4, when they resume OUA play at Carleton on Jan. 4.
 
SCORING SUMMARY

OUA STATS & STANDINGS
 
SOURCE
Earl Zukerman
Sports Information Officer
Athletics & Recreation
McGill University
514-983-7012 (cell.)
www.mcgillathletics.ca
earl.zukerman@mcgill.ca