After amassing a 37-4-0 record and winning McGill's first-ever women's national championship in 2008, the Martlets replaced the monkey on their backs with a target that every CIS team aimed for throughout the season. Head Coach Peter Smith returned every important player for McGill's championship defence, and added another piece to the puzzle with CIS rookie of the year Marie-Andre Leclerc-Auger. The result was a 40-2-0 record and a second-straight national championship for the Martlets.
Smith constructed one of the most dominant forces in Canadian collegiate athletics history by ensuring that his team didn't have a weakness. Charline Labonté moonlighted as the goalkeeper for the Canadian women's national team while winning 35 games for the Martlets. Although she took a slight step back from last year, allowing 40 goals against after letting in 33 shots in 2007-08, she was still named to the CIS first team All-Star squad. The top defensive duo of Catherine Ward and Cathy Chartrand-both of whom joined Labonté as CIS All-Stars-made sure their goaltender's job stayed relatively stress-free by keeping the puck out of the McGill zone and applying pressure in the offensive end. The forwards, led by Leclerc-Auger, Vanessa Davidson, and QSSF MVP Ann-Sophie Bettez, often cemented the game's outcome by the end of the first period. Smith's top line combined for 264 points in 42 games-which is 54 more points than the combined rosters of Ottawa, Concordia, and Carleton scored in 52 league games.
McGill will likely continue to make their divisional opponents' lives a living hell next season, despite the departures of Ward, Labonté, defender and captain Chantal Gauvin, and back-up goalie Kalie Townsend. Smith will also miss much of the season, as he'll join Ward and Labonté with the Canadian National Team development program in Calgary, where they'll be training for the 2010 Olympics. But assistant coaches Amey Doyle and Stewart McCarthey are more than capable of running the team. An eighth-straight trip to the CIS National Championship Tournament should be in order for McGill, as no one in Quebec will be able to challenge the mighty Martlets. A third consecutive national championship is a definite possibility, but netminder Gabrielle Smith-or whichever rookie Smith brings in-will have to step up for McGill to have a shot.
Final record: 40-2-0 (18-0-0)
MVP: Catherine Ward
Player to Watch: Marie-Andre Leclerc-Auger
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