Elisha Lerner

Elisha Lerner

The McGill Martlets are champions of Quebec once again. The top ranked Martlets continued to utterly dominate their provincial opponents as they captured their sixth consecutive Quebec University Hockey League championship this past week. McGill swept the Montreal Carabins with wins on Thursday and Friday night to extend their conference winning streak to an amazing 105 victories.

GAME ONE

On Thursday, McGill won the first game of the series at home against an overwhelmed Montreal squad. There were some ups and downs for the Martlets, but a strong overall team effort led to a convincing 4-1 win.

“We have to play simple, stick to the basics, try not to do anything ourselves, [make] no individual plays, and play as a team—that’s when we play our best,” said fifth-year forward Caroline Hill who scored two goals in the game.

Both teams were obviously excited for playoffs to begin as the first period began with speed and intensity from both sides. The Martlets’ skills were on display early as accurate passing, great puck control, and an offence that was both calm and strategic led to a dominant first period in which the Carabins were outshot 11-3.

For the first 15 minutes of the game the Martlets managed to generate numerous scoring chances but were unable to find the back of the net. But with McGill continuing to keep the pressure on the Montreal defence and with the Carabins clearly not posing an offensive threat, Montreal was forced into taking multiple penalties near the end of the period.

The Martlets were finally able to score on Montreal’s third consecutive penalty, a tripping call. With three and a half minutes to go in the first, there was a scurry in front of the net and Caroline Hill was able to slip the puck past Carabins goalie Rachel Ouellette. Ann-Sophie Bettez and captain Cathy Chartrand were awarded assists on the goal.

McGill again dominated in the second period as Montreal generated little offence and barely seemed able to clear the puck. The few good shots the Carabins were able to take were turned aside by McGill goalie Charline Labonte. With eight minutes to go, Montreal received another penalty for tripping. A minute into the power play a great offensive push by McGill led to Bettez finding the back of the net to make the score 2-0.

The beginning of the third period also started off well for McGill. Only five minutes into the frame, Hill scored her second goal of the game making the score 3-0. However, the Martlets got into penalty trouble late in the period. McGill was reduced to three skaters and with the two man advantage Montreal finally found the back of the net, cutting the McGill lead to 3-1.

Montreal appeared emboldened by the goal and pushed hard to tie the game. In the last few minutes, the Carabins pulled their goalie to give them a sixth attacker. The extra skater was still no match for the Martlets, who held off the Montreal attack. The extra player also didn’t prevent Chartrand from scoring with 38 seconds left in the game to make the final score 4-1 for McGill.

Head Coach Peter Smith credited the victory to a solid team effort for the entire game

“We had a lot of energy and a lot of get up and go,” he said. “I think the beauty of our team is that we have a whole group of players who work hard and focus.”

GAME TWO

With a 1-0 lead in the series, the Martlets remained focused and humble as the next night they played the second game of the series in Montreal’s arena

“We worked hard all week in preparation so we were able to stick to our plan to work hard around their net,” said Chartrand after the game one victory. “But tomorrow is another day and we need to build on it. We don’t want to be overconfident.”

On Friday, McGill continued to build on their momentum from the previous night as they cruised to a 8-1 victory against the Carabins. The  Carabins opened the scoring and led 1-0 but the Martlets were quick to answer. Jordana Peroff scored the first McGill goal on a power play with assists from Leslie Oles and Kim Ton-That.  Two minutes later Lisa Zane found the back of the net to give the Martlets a lead they would never relinquish. In the last few seconds of the period, Ton-That scored another goal with assists from Oles and Peroff to make it 3-1 for McGill.

Katia Clement-Heydra and Bettez scored in the second period to extend the McGill lead to 5-1. Then, in the first minute of the third period, Peroff scored her second goal of the game. Hill scored the last two goals of the game to make the final margin 8-1.

Next week the Martlets will travel to Waterloo, Ontario for the Canadian Interuniversity Sport Nationals. McGill is the team to beat in the CIS championships as they have a 30-0 record against CIS teams this season and is looking to bring another trophy back home.