February 20, 2010
REDMEN SINK LAKERS IN OUA MEN'S HOCKEY
NORTH BAY, ONT. -- Seven different players scored, including four defencemen, as No.6-ranked McGill waltzed to a 7-2 victory over the Nipissing University Lakers to sweep their best-of-three OUA East men's hockey quarter-final series before 1,638 at Memorial Gardens, Friday.
The seven-goal outburst, their highest total in 24 playoff games dating back to 2007, established a school record for most post-season goals scored on the road, a record which spans 63 road games since McGill's first-ever playoff encounter in 1910. The previous high occurred in a 9-6 loss at Loyola on Feb. 26, 1975, a standard that was equalled in a 6-3 win at Toronto on Feb. 28, 2009.
Rearguards who hit pay-dirt in the Game 2 victory were Marc-Andre Dorion of St. Hubert, Que., Yan Turcotte of Laval, Que., and Montrealer Stephen Valente, a sophomore who tallied his first career goal in a McGill jersey and was credited with the game-winner.
Valente's marker came mid-way in the second stanza, less than three minutes after Nipissing's Ryan Maunu had narrowed the gap to 2-1.
McGill blueliners have now connected four times in two playoff matches, ahead of their impressive regular-season tally that accounted for 26 goals in 28 games - McGill's highest total in over a decade.
Also finding the back of the net for McGill were forwards Guillaume Doucet of Anjou, Que., Maxime Langelier-Parent of Levy, Que., and Francis Verreault-Paul of Mashteuiatsh, Que.
The Redmen led 1-0 after one and 3-1 after two before exploding with four in the final frame for the second time in as many outings. McGill out shot Nipissing 48-25, including a 20-3 margin in the opening period.
"It was one of our classic performances of the season," said Jim Webster, who has guided the Redmen to a 29-11-1 record overall in his first year as head coach at McGill. "We were mentally ready and focused. We came out determined that they wouldn't skate with us tonight."
It was a true team victory as 13 different Redmen got on the score sheet and only one (Doucet) had a multi-point night with an assist to go along with his goal that made it 2-0 only 70 seconds into the middle period.
Webster singled out sophomore Marc-Andre Daneau as his warrior of the game. The six-foot, 195 pound forward from Aston Jonction, Que., assisted on Langelier-Parent's third-period goal which put the Redmen ahead 4-2 at 6:53, just 29 seconds after Dan Watt had scored for the Lakers.
"He was all over the ice despite playing with a number of injured body parts," said Webster. "He was flying out there, banging bodies and blocking shots."
Goaltender Hubert Morin continued his hot hand, picking up his fourth consecutive win in his fifth straight start. The engineering sophomore from St. Georges de Beauce, Que., kicked aside 23 of 25 shots to register his second career playoff win.
Lakers' netminder Billy Stone made 41 saves in a losing cause. He had 42 saves in the series opener, a 4-1 McGill victory.
The Redmen will now get three days off to recover and await their next opponent in a series slated to open at McConnell Arena on Wednesday (Feb. 24). With the UQTR-Concordia series even at 1-1, McGill would play the eighth-place Stingers if ConU upsets the Patriotes in Game 3 on Sunday. Otherwise, the Redmen will await the winner of the Carleton-Queen's series, which is also knotted at 1-1.
Source: McGill Redmen
The seven-goal outburst, their highest total in 24 playoff games dating back to 2007, established a school record for most post-season goals scored on the road, a record which spans 63 road games since McGill's first-ever playoff encounter in 1910. The previous high occurred in a 9-6 loss at Loyola on Feb. 26, 1975, a standard that was equalled in a 6-3 win at Toronto on Feb. 28, 2009.
Rearguards who hit pay-dirt in the Game 2 victory were Marc-Andre Dorion of St. Hubert, Que., Yan Turcotte of Laval, Que., and Montrealer Stephen Valente, a sophomore who tallied his first career goal in a McGill jersey and was credited with the game-winner.
Valente's marker came mid-way in the second stanza, less than three minutes after Nipissing's Ryan Maunu had narrowed the gap to 2-1.
McGill blueliners have now connected four times in two playoff matches, ahead of their impressive regular-season tally that accounted for 26 goals in 28 games - McGill's highest total in over a decade.
Also finding the back of the net for McGill were forwards Guillaume Doucet of Anjou, Que., Maxime Langelier-Parent of Levy, Que., and Francis Verreault-Paul of Mashteuiatsh, Que.
The Redmen led 1-0 after one and 3-1 after two before exploding with four in the final frame for the second time in as many outings. McGill out shot Nipissing 48-25, including a 20-3 margin in the opening period.
"It was one of our classic performances of the season," said Jim Webster, who has guided the Redmen to a 29-11-1 record overall in his first year as head coach at McGill. "We were mentally ready and focused. We came out determined that they wouldn't skate with us tonight."
It was a true team victory as 13 different Redmen got on the score sheet and only one (Doucet) had a multi-point night with an assist to go along with his goal that made it 2-0 only 70 seconds into the middle period.
Webster singled out sophomore Marc-Andre Daneau as his warrior of the game. The six-foot, 195 pound forward from Aston Jonction, Que., assisted on Langelier-Parent's third-period goal which put the Redmen ahead 4-2 at 6:53, just 29 seconds after Dan Watt had scored for the Lakers.
"He was all over the ice despite playing with a number of injured body parts," said Webster. "He was flying out there, banging bodies and blocking shots."
Goaltender Hubert Morin continued his hot hand, picking up his fourth consecutive win in his fifth straight start. The engineering sophomore from St. Georges de Beauce, Que., kicked aside 23 of 25 shots to register his second career playoff win.
Lakers' netminder Billy Stone made 41 saves in a losing cause. He had 42 saves in the series opener, a 4-1 McGill victory.
The Redmen will now get three days off to recover and await their next opponent in a series slated to open at McConnell Arena on Wednesday (Feb. 24). With the UQTR-Concordia series even at 1-1, McGill would play the eighth-place Stingers if ConU upsets the Patriotes in Game 3 on Sunday. Otherwise, the Redmen will await the winner of the Carleton-Queen's series, which is also knotted at 1-1.
Source: McGill Redmen
