ALBERTA BOY SHEWCHUK BAGS OT WINNER

By Dan Carle

EDMONTON (CIS) - Their historic first University Cup win followed a third-period comeback and came, ironically, off the sudden-death winner from an Alberta native.

Shawn Shewchuk had the backhand winner at 3:40 of the second sudden-death overtime as the McGill Redmen came back to beat the Laurier Golden Hawks 4-3 Thursday in the final pool game on the first day of the 2006 CIS men's hockey championship.

TELUS University Cup web site: http://www.cisport.ca/e/championships/m_hockey/2006

\"It was tough to get your nerves going because you were so tired,\" said Shewchuk, a left-winger from Lloydminster, Alta., who became a trivia answer after the 129-year-old program won its first-ever University Cup game before 1,246 at Clare Drake Arena.

\"I didn't think I'd ever end up in Quebec,\" said the Chemical Engineering major. \"But I'm sure glad I did.\"

With an an empty net and six attackers, Lucas Madill scored his second goal with 1:09 left in regulation to force overtime.

\"We really belive in ourselves, that we could come from behind, no matter what the situation,\" said Madill.

Yan Turcotte, in his first game back after missing six weeks with a torn muscle in his leg, also scored for No. 4 McGill, 1-0, which was down 3-1 in the third period and lost top defenceman David Urquhart to a game misconduct in the first period after a check from behind on Golden Hawks defenceman Adam Wood.

\"It's unreal,\" said Turcotte, a Redmen rookie defenceman. \"We knew we would come back.\"

Each team finished with 31 shots.

\"It's a difficult pill to swallow for sure,\" said Golden Hawks coach Steve Martell. \"They kept coming hard and made the most of their opportunitites.\"

Rob Dmytruk, Nick Vergeer, and Mark Voakes scored in regulation for 0-1 Laurier, the No. 6 seed at the six-team tournament, which scored a pair of powerplay goals on eight attempts in regulatiion.

Doug Orr, a 24-year-old fifth-year senior and nephew of Hall of Famer Bobby Orr, returned to the Redmen for his first game since suffering a concussion Jan. 20 and took a hooking call that led to Voakes powerplay goal at 2:59 of the third period.

The Redmen took four of five penalties in the second period as the Golden Hawks scored twice - Dmytruk at 1:38 on Laurier's third powerplay, and Vergeer.

The first period had good pace but ended scoreless.

Acadia plays Lakehead Friday in its second and final round-robin game, while Wilfred Laurier will play the No. 1 seed and host Alberta Golden Bears.

The final will be played Sunday.

SCORING SUMMARY

McGill 4, Wilfrid Laurier 3 (2 OT)

FIRST PERIOD

SCORING:
(no scoring)

PENALTIES:
D. Herman (WLU) hooking, 0:27; D. Urquhart (McG) checking-from-behind minor, game misconduct, 10:27; E. L'Italien (McG) interference, 15:47; A. Wood (WLU) roughing, 18:28.

SECOND PERIOD

SCORING:
1. WLU Rob Dmytruk (1) (M. Maccarone, J. Edgar), 1:38 PP
2. McG Lucas Madill (1) (K. Davis, P.-É. Paquet), 9:50
3. WLU Nick Vergeer (1) (R. Moher), 19:38

PENALTIES:
G. Demers (McG) high sticking, 1:16; B. Martin (McG) tripping, 2:48; R. Moher (WLU) interference, 4:13; S. Shewchuk (McG) holding the stick, 5:50; Y. Turcotte (McG) holding the stick, 10:43.

THIRD PERIOD

SCORING:
4. WLU Mark Voakes (1) (R. Colwill, L. Girard) 2:59 PP
5. McG Yan Turcotte (1) (S. Shewchuk), 11:33
6. McG Lucas Madill (2) (S. Pearce, K. Morin), 18:51

PENALTIES:
D. Orr (McG) hooking, 1:50; N. Vergeer (WLU) hooking, 8:34; C. Gauthier (McG) boarding, 14:55; Y. Turcotte (McG), M. Maccarone (WLU) roughing double minors, 16:53.

FIRST OVERTIME (10 minutes)

SCORING:
(no scoring)

PENALTIES:
(none)

SECOND OVERTIME (20 minutes)

SCORING:
7. McG Shawn Shewchuk (1) (B. Martin), 3:40

PENALTIES:
(none)

POWER PLAY:
McG: 0/4
WLU: 2/8

SHOTS ON GOAL (by period)
McG: 5-10-8-4-4: 31
WLU: 9-7-11-3-1: 31

GOALTENDERS
McG - Mathieu Poitras (W, 31 shots, 28 saves, 73:33)
WLU - Justin Day (L, 31 shots, 27 saves, 73:40)

ELITE SPORTSWEAR PLAYERS OF THE GAME:
McG: Shawn Shewchuk
WLU: Richard Colwill

REFEREE: Derek Zalasky

LINESMEN: Chris Carlson, Cam McMillan

ATTENDANCE: 1246

SCHEDULE & RESULTS (All times LOCAL / Mountain Time)

Pre-tournament seeding

1. Alberta Golden Bears
2. Acadia Axemen
3. Lakehead Thunderwolves
4. McGill Redmen
5. Saskatchewan Huskies
6. Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks

Thursday, March 23
Game 1 (Clare Drake Arena): Saskatchewan 5, Acadia 1
Game 2 (Clare Drake Arena): McGill 4, Wilfrid Laurier 3 (2OT)

Friday, March 24
13:00 Game 3 (Clare Drake Arena): Lakehead (3) vs. Acadia (2)
19:00 Game 4 (Clare Drake Arena): Wilfrid Laurier (6) vs. Alberta (1)

Saturday March 25
11:00 Game 5 (Clare Drake Arena): Saskatchewan (5) vs. Lakehead (3)
16:00 Game 6 (Clare Drake Arena): McGill (4) vs. Alberta (1) (live on TSN)

Sunday March 26
19:00 Championship final (Rexall Place): (TSN / following NHL broadcast)

- CIS -

(Photo: Lloydminster, Alta. native Shawn Shewchuk scored in the second overtime to give the McGill Redmen their first ever TELUS University Cup win.)