TROIS-RIVIERES, QUE – Mujtaba Mirhasan of Carignan, Que., scored on a penalty kick in overtime as third-seeded McGill stunned second-place UQTR 2-1 in a sudden-death semifinal at Stade CAPS on Friday.
 
The Redbirds advance for a showdown with the top-seeded Montreal Carabins in the RSEQ championship final on Nov. 1 at 8:15 p.m. But more importantly, McGill has qualified for one of the two Quebec conference berths at the U SPORTS national championship tournament, slated to be held at Oshawa, Ont., Nov. 7-10. This marks the first time that the Redbirds will be going to Nationals since 2011.

In an entertaining affair, the Redbirds appeared to be in control until the dying moments of regulation time. They had an 18-15 advantage in attempted shots and a 9-7 edge in corner kicks. The teams combined for six yellow cards.

Nathan Yee, a sophomore midfielder from Richmond, B.C., opened the scoring for McGill in the 11th minute of play. But five minutes after scoring, he had to leave the game with an undisclosed injury. His goal held up until UQTR's Vincent Lamy forced overtime by scoring in the 88th minute.

"It was a very good game against a good team but I thought that were were the better team tonight. We had more chances and controlled the game," said McGill head coach Marc Mounicot, whose road-weary troops have had to overcome the challenge of being on the road for the last six contests and will now take a three-game win streak into the league championship game against the first-place Carabins. "We played very smart and I think that it was our best performance of the season and came at the right time. Even when they tied the score in the 88th minute, we kept going hard. It was a great performance from both, the starters and the players who came off the bench. My coaching staff has been amazing too and that's a big reason why we are (advancing)."

In the first of two 15-minute overtime periods, McGill was awarded a penalty kick when striker Maher Fares was tripped in the UQTR box. That opened the door for Mirhasan, an imposing 6-foot-5, 180-pound striker and the team's leading scorer, to work his magic. The first-year NCAA transfer calmly stepped up and put the Redbirds ahead.in the 109th minute. Then McGill had to play kitty-bar-the-door for the final 11 minutes to simultaneously punch their tickets to the Quebec final and a berth at Nationals.

Goaltender Gavin McFee, a 5-foot-10, 166-pound native of Kelowna, B.C., continued his solid play, turning back nine of 10 shots. Five of his stops were in extra time as he collected his third straight victory since taking over for injured veteran Ludovyck Ciociola. After being inserted into McGill's starting lineup last week, the 20-year-old psychology junior has registered a 3-0 record with 27 saves on 28 shots for a 0.33 goals against average with a .964 save percentage and a pair of shutouts.

"He was well-positioned the whole game and as a result, didn't have to make any incredible saves," noted Mounicot. "He has been playing with confidence and so has the team.
 
"We had good preseason results and then, as often happens, went through a difficult time when we lost three away games but when our backs were against the wall, we bounced back," Mounicot said. "Our last three games, all on the road, have been very solid, very good. The guys are really excited now because we have qualified. We want to go into the U SPORTS championship as league champs, which will give us a higher seed and better schedule at Nationals."

SCORING SUMMARY

RSEQ STATS & STANDINGS


SOURCE:
Earl Zukerman
Sports Information Officer
McGill University - Athletics & Recreation
CELL: 514-983-7012
TWITTER: @EarlZukerman
E-MAIL: earl.zukerman@mcgill.ca