Davidson delivers hat-trick as Martlet pucksters clobber Carleton
MONTREAL -- Gabrielle Davidson netted a hat-trick and Katia Clement-Heydra added four helpers as No.2-ranked McGill crushed Carleton 7-2 in CIS women's hockey at McConnell Arena, Saturday.
The result marked McGill's 18th consecutive victory over Carleton in regular-season matchups, dating back to a 4-3 overtime shootout loss on Jan. 22, 2012. The Martlets improved to 81-1-1 lifetime against Carleton, since the Ravens joined the Quebec conference in 1999.
It was the second hat-trick of the season against the Ravens for Davidson, who fired a school single-game record 22 shots on net and took over the RSEQ conference scoring lead. She ranks fourth in the nation with 31 points, including 15 goals in 16 games.
"I though Gabby was terrific out there, had lots of fire, was a good teammate and leader," said McGill head coach Peter Smith. "I told the team before the game that Leslie (Oles) had 11 shots in the Concordia game last week and now that she is out of the lineup (with an injury) we needed to get more pucks to the net. Gabby stepped up and took it upon herself to get our offence going."
The Martlets outshot Carleton by a lopsided 68-15 margin, registering more than 20 shots in each period for the first time in school history. Despite a 25-3 shot advantage in the first period, McGill actually headed into the first intermission trailing 2-1 with the Ravens getting markers from forwards Ainslee Kent and Sadie Wegner, sandwiched around Davidson's first marker.
The Martlets then scored six unanswered goals, taking a 3-2 lead after two and adding four more in the final stanza.
Other McGill marksmen included Stefanie Pohlod (her 7th), Logan Murray (2nd), Jordan McDonell (2nd) and Pamela Psihogios (2nd).
The Ravens took eight of the 11 minor penalties assessed and McGill made them pay the price, going 2-for-6 on the power-play. The last infraction was called with one second remaining in the game when Carleton forward Laura-Marie Bianconi hammered McGill defenceman Kelsie Moffatt along the boards.
That prompted an angry Peter Smith to pull a rare move by calling a time out and pulling his goaltender for an extra attacker with a five-goal lead for the final second, a ploy that almost result in the g
"I don't like doing that but I have to admit that I was very upset when Moffatt was slammed into the boards with mere seconds left in the game," said Smith. "That kind of stuff has no place in the game. That's just not right."
Tamber Tisdale, the beleaguered Ravens goaltender who hails from Red Deer, Alta., made 61 saves in a losing cause as her record tumbled to 1-6-0. Taylor Hough made 13 saves between the pipes for McGill, collecting the win and improving to 6-1-0 on the season.
McGill (12-4-0) plays at Concordia (6-6-3) on Feb. 7 at 2:30 pm. The Stingers surprised McGill 1-0 in their first meeting but the Martlets bounced back to win 3-2, 5-3 and 3-2 (OT).
The cellar-dwelling Ravens (3-12-0) will host No.1-ranked Montreal (13-2-0) on Feb. 7.
MARTLET MURMURS: Katia Clement-Heydra now has a league-leading 21 helpers and 29 points in 16 contests. She tied the McGill record held by Ann-Sophie Bettez for most regular season points in a career with 172, including a school record 98 assists in 96 games. Bettez, who graduated in 2012, tallied 85-87-172 in 91 games... Ann-Sophie Bettez still holds the school's overall mark with 148-175-323 in 196 games, which includes preseason and post-season matchups. Vanessa Davidson (not related to Gabrielle) is second on the overall list (203GP: 145-158-303) by Clement-Heydra (194GP: 114-168-282) and Leslie Oles (187GP: 135-141-276).
