March 23, 2008
REDMEN BLANK MONCTON 3-0, FALL SHORT OF ADVANCING TO FINAL
MONCTON (CIS) - Guillaume Demers of Baie Comeau, Que., scored the game-winner and Mathieu Poitras made 39 saves for the shutout as the third-seeded McGill Redmen blanked the No.6-Moncton Aigles Bleus 3-0 on Day 3 of the CIS men's hockey championship before 3,987 at the Moncton Coliseum, Saturday night.
Demers tallied his third goal of the University Cup tournament at 9:12 of the opening period. Defenceman Ben Gazdic, a sophomore from Toronto, fired the insurance marker on a power play at 11:25 of the final stanza and rearguard Yan Turcotte of Laval, Que., added an empty-netter with one minute remaining.
The result forced a three-way tie in Pool B between the No.2-Alberta Golden Bears, McGill and Moncton, each with 1-1 records, marking the first time since the University Cup format was changed to a six-team, pool-play competition 11 years ago that a tie-breaking procedure was required to determine which team would advance to Sunday's gold medal game.
Based upon goal-differential in the preliminary round, the idle Golden Bears were declared winners of Pool B, with plus-3 and will meet the top-seeded UNB Varsity Reds (2-0) in the final, scheduled to be televised on Rogers Sportsnet at 8 p.m. Atlantic.
The Bears have a lifetime 3-3 record against UNB at the CIS tourney, including a 5-4 double overtime victory at Saskatoon in 2000, the only time the rivals have met in the final.
McGill finished second in the pool at minus-1 and host Moncton was third at minus-2.
Poitras, a graduating mechanical engineering senior who entered the championship with a school-record seven-game win streak in post-season play, bounced back from Friday's 7-3 loss to the Bears with a strong performance that earned him player of the game honours for McGill.
\"I don't want to take anything away from Alberta, they're a great team,\" said Poitras. \"But (on Friday), we had a few bounces go against us. I think the first three goals were off our own sticks. It's a nice way to end for sure, there's only two teams in the country that will end their season with a (playoff) win and we're one of them.\"
Moncton had a 39-31 advantage in shots, including a 16-10 margin in the final period. The Redmen went 1-for-5 with the man-advantage, while the Aigles Bleus were blanked on all five opportunities.
\"This is a very emotional win for us,\" said McGill coach Martin Raymond. \"Although we knew we were all but eliminated (from reaching the final) the guys came out with an unbelievable effort. I'm really proud of them? they really touched my heart tonight.
\"This win definitely brings closure to our season. We've had a lot of character wins and all year, when all the chips were down, we've come up with a huge effort most of the time.\"
Kevin Lachance made 28 saves in a losing cause for Moncton. The native of Vanier, Que., got the start despite Eric Lafrance's overtime victory over Alberta on Thursday.
\"I knew they'd come out very strong, they are a real character team,\" said Bob Mongrain, head coach of the Aigles Bleus. \"Tonight we were beaten by a very hot goalie. I coached Poitras in junior and knew he would come up big for them.\"
(Source: CIS)
Demers tallied his third goal of the University Cup tournament at 9:12 of the opening period. Defenceman Ben Gazdic, a sophomore from Toronto, fired the insurance marker on a power play at 11:25 of the final stanza and rearguard Yan Turcotte of Laval, Que., added an empty-netter with one minute remaining.
The result forced a three-way tie in Pool B between the No.2-Alberta Golden Bears, McGill and Moncton, each with 1-1 records, marking the first time since the University Cup format was changed to a six-team, pool-play competition 11 years ago that a tie-breaking procedure was required to determine which team would advance to Sunday's gold medal game.
Based upon goal-differential in the preliminary round, the idle Golden Bears were declared winners of Pool B, with plus-3 and will meet the top-seeded UNB Varsity Reds (2-0) in the final, scheduled to be televised on Rogers Sportsnet at 8 p.m. Atlantic.
The Bears have a lifetime 3-3 record against UNB at the CIS tourney, including a 5-4 double overtime victory at Saskatoon in 2000, the only time the rivals have met in the final.
McGill finished second in the pool at minus-1 and host Moncton was third at minus-2.
Poitras, a graduating mechanical engineering senior who entered the championship with a school-record seven-game win streak in post-season play, bounced back from Friday's 7-3 loss to the Bears with a strong performance that earned him player of the game honours for McGill.
\"I don't want to take anything away from Alberta, they're a great team,\" said Poitras. \"But (on Friday), we had a few bounces go against us. I think the first three goals were off our own sticks. It's a nice way to end for sure, there's only two teams in the country that will end their season with a (playoff) win and we're one of them.\"
Moncton had a 39-31 advantage in shots, including a 16-10 margin in the final period. The Redmen went 1-for-5 with the man-advantage, while the Aigles Bleus were blanked on all five opportunities.
\"This is a very emotional win for us,\" said McGill coach Martin Raymond. \"Although we knew we were all but eliminated (from reaching the final) the guys came out with an unbelievable effort. I'm really proud of them? they really touched my heart tonight.
\"This win definitely brings closure to our season. We've had a lot of character wins and all year, when all the chips were down, we've come up with a huge effort most of the time.\"
Kevin Lachance made 28 saves in a losing cause for Moncton. The native of Vanier, Que., got the start despite Eric Lafrance's overtime victory over Alberta on Thursday.
\"I knew they'd come out very strong, they are a real character team,\" said Bob Mongrain, head coach of the Aigles Bleus. \"Tonight we were beaten by a very hot goalie. I coached Poitras in junior and knew he would come up big for them.\"
(Source: CIS)
