The McGill Martlets have been hot on the trail to Nationals all year long, and on Friday night, they finally reached the end. The Martlets overcame a sluggish first period to capture the QSSF championship, defeating the Ottawa Gee Gees 7-1 to sweep the best-of-three QSSF final. The win capped the Martlets' second-straight season with a perfect record, and improved their undefeated streak against Canadian opponents to 51 games. Canada's top-ranked team can now look ahead to the CIS Women's Hockey National Championship Tournament this weekend in Antigonish, Nova Scotia.
"Since the buzzer sounded tonight we've started thinking about Nationals," said defender Catherine Ward, who notched a goal and two assists in her final game at McConnell Arena. "Before that, we were really focussing on the playoffs. But as a team, we've played really well the last couple of games and that gives the whole team confidence. … Everyone's really excited about [Nationals] and we can finally talk about it now as a reality."
The Martlets got off to an uncharacteristically slow start on Friday, with the puck constantly changing ends in the first period.
"We just turned the puck over too many times in the first period and we talked about that," said McGill Head Coach Peter Smith, who has now guided the Martlets to their fourth consecutive QSSF championship. "We stressed more responsibility with the puck and getting the puck in deep. That's what we did, and I thought it paid off."
QSSF offensive rookie of the year Marie-Andrée Leclerc-Auger got the Martlets on the board midway through the first period, but for a while it looked like the Martlets would be in for a 60-minute fight. McGill's lead would remain ahead by a single goal until Vanessa Davidson beat Ottawa netminder Marie-Helene Malenfant just over halfway through the second frame. Malenfant faced 47 shots from the Martlets, and stopped 40.
McGill's defence smothered the Ottawa attack all night, however, providing a quiet night for goalie Charline Labonté. The QSSF all-star netminder stopped 15 shots, most of them coming from around the blue line.
"I think in the first [period] we were a little too excited coming out, running around a bit and rushing our passes," Ward said. "It took a little time to calm down and relax, and when we did it made a big difference."
Forward Amber Foster scored the Gee Gees' lone goal eight minutes into the third period, cutting the Martlets' lead to 5-1. But the Gee Gees would get no closer, as two minutes later Leclerc-Auger notched her second goal on a beautiful one-time pass from defender Lisa Zane that knifed through multiple Gee Gees before reaching her stick. Ward provided the knockout punch with a dazzling array of moves, going straight up the right side before cutting hard left to flip the final goal past Malenfant, leaving three Gee Gees in her wake.
"I think this is one of the best teams I've ever played on," said Davidson, a fourth-year forward who equaled Leclerc-Auger's effort with two goals and an assist. "Every once in a while we'll get off to a slow start, but luckily we have team leadership across the board, with fourth-year and first-year players making sure we do the job and do it the right way."
Forward Rebecca Martindale and defender Jasmine Sheehan provided the rest of McGill's scoring, both on power-plays. The Martlets' special teams were the key to victory once again, as their seven power plays resulted in four goals. The Martlets' power-play unit has gone an astonishing 12-for-31 (38.7%) in the playoffs, and their penalty kill was just as impressive on Friday night. When forward Alyssa Cecere was called for hooking in the second period, the Martlets nearly scored twice on short-handed breakaways by Ward and forward Caroline Hill.
The Martlets have outscored their opponents 130-15 in conference play and beat Concordia and Ottawa by a combined score of 29-4 in four playoff games. Despite these gaudy statistics, they realize that dominance also has its shortcomings.
"I think this year it's been tough sometimes to keep playing at a high level, because we went up a couple goals quickly on some teams," Ward said. "We really made a concerted effort to play at the same level regardless of the score, and to play our style and not let other teams dictate the pace of the game."
In game one of the best-of-three QSSF Final on Wednesday, McGill shellacked Ottawa 7-0 to set up the eventual series sweep. Leclerc-Auger and Ward had two goals apiece to lead the Martlets to a victory at the University of Ottawa Sports Complex.
The Martlets leave for Nationals as the prohibitive favourites to win their second-straight national championship. And if they can continue the calibre of play they displayed in the QSSF playoffs, they'll be lifting more than just a regional trophy over their heads.
Quick Hits
• Leclerc-Auger and Davidson recently
leapfrogged Ann-Sophie
Bettez for the team lead in points
this season. Leclerc-Auger, recently
named Quebec rookie
of the year, has 89 points in 39
games, good for 2.28 points per
game. Davidson is second with
82 points, but having played four
less games, she's averaged 2.34
points per game. Bettez, whose
pace has slowed as of late, has 79
points in 34 games, for an average
of 2.32 points per game.
• McGill will be joined in Antigonish
by the St. Francis Xavier
X-Women (who are hosting the
tournament), the Gee Gees,
the Moncton Blue Eagles, the
Laurier Golden Hawks, and the
Manitoba Bisons, who upset the
University of Alberta Pandas in
triple overtime of Game Three in
the Canada West final.
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