TORONTO – Two natives of Gatineau, Que., played starring roles on opposite sides of the ledger at the U SPORTS men's hockey championship, Saturday. Senior Alexandre Gagnon scored twice for McGill but was overshadowed by sophomore Conor Frenette, who snapped a tie with the game-winner and only 3:41 remaining as the Trois-Rivieres Patriotes skated to a wild 5-4 semifinal triumph over McGill, in a battle of OUA teams from Quebec at the Mattamy Athletic Centre.
 
The result punched a ticket for No.2 seeded UQTR to Sunday's gold medal game against undefeated UNB in a 5 p.m. faceoff. It also relegated sixth-seeded McGill to the tourney's bronze medal game against the Toronto Metropolitan University Bold on Sunday at 11 a.m. TMU was humbled 7-0 by UNB in the other semifinal, which extended UNB's win streak to 45 consecutive games, including four from the previous season.
 
"We talked about grit and grind today for our group. We needed everyone (to be on board) and we played a good game…. We tried to battle to the end but they got the best of it," said Gagnon, an alternate captain who was named as one of two Nike players of the game, along with UQTR defenceman Loris Rafanomezantsoa, who had two assists. "It was not the result that we wanted as a team. We have a special group… and worked hard the whole year to be here. We wanted to play for gold tomorrow but we still have an opportunity to be third in the country."
 
In an emotional start to one of hockey's greatest collegiate rivalries, McGill battled back from a penalty-inflicted start that had the Redbirds taking five of seven infractions in the first period. There were only two other penalties called in the remainder of the game as UQTR went 1-for-5 on the power-play, while the Redbirds went 0-for-2.
 
In a game that featured three lead changes, UQTR took advantage of an early penalty gift that had McGill taking three penalties before the eight-minute mark. Veteran Simon Lafrance scored with a two-man advantage at 8:13 of the opening stanza. McGill rallied when rookie Xavier Fortin struck for his second of the tourney at 14:14. But the Patriotes regained the lead less than three minutes later when Edouard Cournoyer found the back of the net.
 
Things looked gloomy for McGill when William Dumoulin put the Pats ahead 3-1 at 7:35 of the middle frame but Gagnon took over with back-to-back goals at 7:56 and 15:07. It marked the first two of the post-season for Gagnon, who now has 19 career goals in 95 contests overall.
 
"(Gagnon) is one of the guys that leads in a lot of different ways," said McGill head coach David Urquhart. "He was the Randy Gregg Award winner for U SPORTS and part of that was that he does a lot of things that don't necessarily get recognized all the time. He kills penalties, is there for his teammates… From a leadership perspective, he does everything the right way and is one of those players, as a coach, that you're super proud to have on the team… Tonight he had another gear and you saw that with his separation speed… He was a huge part of us coming back in this game."
 
After Gagnon's second goal, the Redbirds appeared to deliver a body blow to the midsection when senior Eric Uba put the Redbirds ahead 4-3 at 19:12 of the period but UQTR responded just 17 seconds later when Vincent Milot-Ouellet knotted the score at 4-4 to set the stage for Frenette's late-game heroics.
 
McGill ended up with a 29-28 edge in shots as goaltender Alexis Gravel registered 25 saves for the win, while Alexis Shank made 23 stops and was saddled with the loss.
 
"We definitely have a special program," added Gagnon, who will be graduating but plans to return for a master's degree. "I came (to McGill) during the (canceled) COVID (season) and the coaches did a great job of building that culture. We've got a special group and it's hard because for some guys who I've entered the program with, tomorrow's going to be their last game… We wanted to be the best in the country…and want to leave here with a medal."
 
Less than 14 hours after a grueling, fast-paced contest, the Redbirds will now have to find a way to recharge their batteries to confront TMU, which won two of three meetings over McGill this season. The teams have tangoed 57 times overall with McGill holding a 44-12-1 lifetime head-to-head record. McGill has five graduating seniors, a group that includes team captain Taylor Ford, along with Scott Walford, Eric Uba, Adam Pilotte and William Poirier.
 
"It's probably one of the toughest games of the tournament to play," Urquhart said. "The bronze medal game, early Sunday morning… So what can you do? You feel bad for yourself for about five minutes but by the time you walk out of the locker room, you've got to start thinking about the next game because it's a great opportunity to go out there and play for third place in the country. It doesn't feel like it right now, when you come that close to playing in the championship game but when these guys look back after a few years to see... a bronze medal on your trophy case, that's something you can be pretty proud about… There's only two teams (here) that are going to win their last game of the year and we could be one of them."
 
SCORING SUMMARY
 
TOURNAMENT STATS

VIDEO REPLAY OF GAME

LINK TO McGill's GAME 1 UPSET OVER UBC

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