THOROLD, ONT – Playoff scoring leader Eric Uba  of Oakville, Ont., scored twice as McGill cruised to a 5-2 victory at Brock to capture the OUA bronze medal game in men's hockey, Saturday.

In the gold medal game, UQTR captured its third consecutive Queen's Cup title after defeat TMU 3-2 with the winning tally at the 70-second mark of double overtime.
 
Both McGill and Brock had finished atop their respective divisions in the league but were knocked out of contention for the Queen's Cup after losing in the previous playoff round. Since the OUA has four berths to the Nationals this year, Brock and McGill had already booked their tickets to the U SPORTS Final Eight in Toronto, March 14-17. However the result of the bronze medal match-up assured McGill of a higher seed than Brock, which would likely be seeded last in in the national championship tournament. The eighth seed will open against the top seed, expected to be undefeated UNB in a quarter-final.
 
The Redbirds led from start to finish, played in front of a capacity crowd at Canada Games Park, situated a stone's throw from Niagara Falls. A boisterous pro-McGill throng was on hand as the team has a few players from Ontario, as well as friends and family of head coach David Urquhart, originally from Thorold. The third-year bench boss was called upon to hand out medals to his troops in the post-game eremonies.

McGill, which had a 39-29 edge in shots, led 2-0 after the first period and 4-1 after two. The potent Redbirds special teams went 1-for-2 on the power-play and erased the only shorthanded situation. After six playoff games, McGill's PP is operating at 42.9 per cent (6/14), while the PK unit remains perfect at 12-for-12.
 
Rookie sniper Charles-Antoine Dumont, who had missed the entire three-game playoff series against UQTR with an injury, returned to the lineup and promptly put McGill ahead 1-0 when he found the back of the net at 5:05 of the first period.
 
Uba, put McGill ahead 2-0 only 82 second later and then added an empty-net goal at 17:57 of the third period. It was his fourth empty-netter of the playoffs and fifth of the season. Named a few days ago as an OUA East second-team all-star, the management senior is having a sensational post-season with an 8-3-11 record in six outings. In 39 games overall, Uba has a team-leading 25 goals and ranks second in points with 47.  His career totals at McGill are 56-46-102 in 102 contests overall.
 
Other McGill markers came from the sticks of first team all-star forward William Rouleau and Caiden Daley, who now has two playoff goals, doubling his regular season total.
 
McGill goaltender Alexis Shank stopped 27 of 28 shots for the win, while Brock's Connor Ungar saved 34 of 38 and took the loss.
 
It was the Redbirds' eighth consecutive victory over Brock, including a 2-0 sweep this season, since the last loss back in 2010. The result upped McGill's head-to-head record against the Badgers to 30-4-2 lifetime since the series began in 1988.
 
The Redbirds are slated to return home on Saturday, then depart for the national championship on Tuesday. A seedings announcement for the Final Eight tournament is anticipated for March 10 at 7 p.m. The competing teams include the three conference champions,namely UNB, UQTR and UBC, who will be seeded among the top three. The remaining qualifiers are all the playoff finalists from each conference (Calgary, TMU, McGill, Brock and Moncton). McGill, which was fifth in the last Top 10 rankings, is expected to be seeded fifth or sixth.
 
SCORING SUMMARY
 
OUA STATS AND STANDINGS
 
SOURCE
Earl Zukerman
Sports Information Officer
Athletics & Recreation
McGill University
514-983-7012 (cell.)
www.mcgillathletics.ca
earl.zukerman@mcgill.ca