LAVAL, QUE – Forward Brandon Frattaroli tallied twice and goaltender Alexis Shank registered a 31-save shutout as No.6 ranked McGill blanked second-place Ontario Tech 6-0 in a key OUA men's hockey matchup at Place Bell, Saturday.
 
The result stretched McGill's win streak to three and improved their record to 8-5-0, four points behind Ontario Tech (9-4-2) in the OUA East with two games in hand.
 
Five different players found the back of the net for the Redbirds, who improved to 23-4-0 lifetime against the Ridgebacks, who also suffered a 7-3 loss to UQTR the day before in Oshawa. McGill, which held a 38-31 edge in shots, scored twice in the second period and added four more in the third. Both sides went 0-for-3 on the power-play.
 
"It was important for us to have a really good start, especially with Ontario Tech playing yesterday and traveling while we were on fresh legs," said McGill head coach David Urquhart. "That was one of the areas where we could get a step ahead. Despite not scoring in the first period, we did start well and carried some momentum into the second. We were a bit sloppy in our defensive zone at the start of the second but Shank, our goalie, made some big stops and we cleaned that up quickly and stuck to our plan to get the game going in the right direction."

Frattaroli, an industrial relations senior from Pierrefonds, Que., atoned for a double minor penalty that he took in the first period for high-sticking. He broke open a 2-0 game at 2:20 of the third period, then added his team-leading eighth of the season at 18:08 of the final stanza. The six-foot, 199-pound centre now has 49 career goals in 117 games overall.

"He's a guy that performs big in big moments," Urquhart said. "He's picked up his game on both sides, offensively and defensively. And when you see him bury a shot like he did today, coming off a successful penalty-kill, that's when you know he's on his game. When he fires the puck hard like that, it looks like it's going to go through the net."
 
Shank, who hails from the Laval area, was playing in front of his hometown friends and family. The 24-year-old economics senior collected his first shutout of the season and fifth of his collegiate career. His won-loss record improved to 6-5 on the season and 46-36 lifetime in 91 games overall. Shank lowered his goals-against average to 2.80 and improved his save percentage to .900.
 
Rounding out the scoring for McGill was defenceman Mitchell Prowse, with the game-winner, Stephane Huard, Charles-Antoine Dumont and Xavier Fortin.
 
McGill (8-5-0) heads to Ottawa for a rare Sunday night game (Nov. 24) to take on the Carleton Ravens (6-7-1) in a 7 p.m. start. Ontario Tech (9-4-2) is off until Nov. 29 when hosting Lakehead (8-5-1) from Thunder Bay..

GAME NOTE: The contest started 28 late after a pane of glass was shattered by shot fired by Ontario Tech with 9:05 remaining in the pre-game warm-up. The teams left the ice, which was resurfaced and there was a three-minute warm-up before the official puck-drop.
 
SCORING SUMMARY
 
OUA STATS & STANDINGS
 
SOURCE
Earl Zukerman
Sports Information Officer
Athletics & Recreation
McGill University
514-983-7012 (Tel.)
www.mcgillathletics.ca
earl.zukerman@mcgill.ca