LAVAL, QUE – Taylor Garcia registered three points and Mika Chang tallied the game-winner with 3:28 remaining in a wild 6-3 victory for McGill over Queen's in the women's hockey preseason home opener at Place Bell, Friday.
 
The result was the Martlets highest offensive output in their last 90 games overall, dating back to a 7-2 win at Carleton on Nov. 7, 2021. It halted a two-game losing streak to the Gaels but was the Martlets ninth conquest in the last 11 confrontations between these long-time foes.
 
The zany affair featured 21 penalties, 19 man-advantage situations, a half-dozen power-play markers and six goals in the last period, including five scored in the final six minutes of play.
 
Garcia, a 19-year-old Arts & Science sophomore who only tallied two points in 32 games during her freshman year, more than doubled that output in this contest. She connected for a goal and two assists, upping her preseason totals to 3-4-7 in five games overall.

McGill led 1-0 after the opening period on a goal by Olivia Pridham. Queen's knotted the score at 2:46 of the middle stanza when Sophy Aldred connected. Garcia replied for the Martlets at 15:14 of the middle frame but the Gaels responded just 54 seconds into the third period on a shot by Alyson Reeves.
 
With the game deadlocked at 2-2 late in the third period, overtime loomed large. Then the floodgates opened with a flurry of goals.
 
Vienna Rubin connected at 15:53 to put the Martlets ahead 3-2 and just 39 seconds later, Chang made it a two-goal cushion. But it took only 28 ticks for the Gaels to respond when Sophie Hudson struck, narrowing the deficit to 4-3. The Gaels pulled their goaltender but McGill's Catherine Foulem potted an empty-netter, followed 18 seconds later by Blake Lavoie to finally put the game out of reach.

Queen's, which had a 38-25 edge in shots, went 2-for-10 on the power-play but McGill's offence countered with a stellar 4-for-9 effort on its special teams play. Senior netminder Jade Rivard-Coulombe collected the win with 35 saves on 38 shots. Lee Bronwynn was charged with the loss for the Gaels, allowing five goals on 24 shots before being pulled for and extra attacker.

McGill, which is 3-2 in preseason play, heads across the border next weekend with non-conference games at Yale (Oct. 12) in New Haven, Conn., and Brown (Oct. 13) in Providence, R.I.  Queen's (1-3) will open its OUA regular season schedule on Oct. 12 against Guelph.

With McConnell Arena undergoing a major facelift this season, all McGill home games are scheduled to be played at the Place Bell Community Rink in Laval, Que., located about a 30-minute drive north of the downtown campus. Single game tickets will only be available online at $15 (general admission), $10 (for senior citizens, McGill staff and students with ID card)), $5 (youths 16 and under). A season ticket for all nine league games is currently on sale for only $100.