PRAGUE – Brandon Frattaroli of Pierrefonds, Que., tallied twice and assisted on another as the McGill University men's hockey team cruised to a 6-1 victory over HC Banik Pribram, Thursday. The result evened McGill's preseason record to 1-1 at the Czechia International Tournament.

It also avenged a four-decade old 9-5 setback to Pribram in the first-ever confrontation between these clubs way back in 1985. Pribram, a pro team that currently plays in the Czechia-3 Liga, is one of the oldest clubs in the country and was founded in 1909.
 
The Redbirds shone on special teams, going 2-for-3 on the power-play and adding a shorthanded goal. Pribram, which had a 29-27 edge in shots, went 1-for-7 with the man advantage.
 
"We could start to see the pieces of the puzzle coming together today," said McGill head coach David Urquhart. "It was a good, high-compete team effort by the guys."

McGill led 1-0 after the first period, 3-0 after two and had scored six consecutive goals until Tomas Psenicka spoiled Fabio Iacobo's shutout bid on a power-play, with just 45 seconds remaining. Iacobo, a 23-year-old psychology junior from St. Leonard, Que., made 28 saves and improved his lifetime record to 8-3 in a McGill jersey.
 
Frattaroli opened the scoring on a power-play at the 3:43 mark, then added another at 7:37 of the final stanza, and assisted on sophomore Stephane Huard's goal to make it 6-0 late in the third. Frattaroli was selected as McGill's player of the game, while Pribram team captain Petr Josefus earned similar honours for his side.
 
Sophomore Xavier Fortin of Mirabel, Que., struck for a power-play marker to give the Redbirds a 2-0 lead just 64 seconds into the second period and it proved to be the game-winning tally. Fortin is coming off solid rookie campaign last season, highlighted by his four points in three games at the U SPORTS national championship tourney where McGill posted a bronze medal finish.
 
Rounding out the scoring for the visitors were forwards Mathieu Gagnon and Charles-Antoine Dumont, who also found the back of the net in McGill's tourney opener, a 4-1 loss to Kladno on Tuesday.
 
Petr Jirousek, a native of Israel, registered 21 saves and took the loss for the home side.

The McGill squad will practice on Friday and have a scheduled visit with Jiri Kozak, Czechia's first deputy minister of foreign affairs. The Redbirds will wrap up their overseas tour against the Czechia University Selects, a collection of the top Czech student-eligible players, in Prague on Saturday. The Selects fell 4-1 to the NCAA's Cornell Big Red, an NCAA Div. 1 squad from Ithaca, N.Y., earlier in the week.

REDBIRDS RAP: Making their debut at the university level were two of McGill's five freshmen recruits from the QMJHL: Alexis Morin (Chicoutimi and Drummondville) and Igor Mburanumwe (Acadie-Bathurst & Victoriaville)... The Redbirds spent the early part of the day on a tour of Prague's historic Černín Castle, a world heritage site, which serves as the official residence and workplace of the president of the Czech Republic. Built in the ninth century, the Castle  long served as the seat of power for kings of Bohemia, Holy Roman emperors, and presidents of Czechoslovakia.

SCORING SUMMARY

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