Lavoie scores shootout winner as hockey Martlets survive Stingers scare
MONTREAL -- Freshman Marie-Philip Lavoie of Pohenegamook, Que., scored the only goal in a post-overtime shootout as No.2-ranked McGill survived a scare and salvaged a 2-1 road victory over Concordia at the Ed Meagher Arena, Saturday.
The Martlets, who suffered a stunning 1-0 setback to Concordia earlier this season and needed overtime to win another game 3-2, are now 72-37-3 in 112 lifetime meetings against their cross-town rivals since the CIS adopted women's hockey in 1997-98.
After two scoreless periods, the Stingers were in position for an upset late in the third period when Alyssa Sherrard of Bathurst, N.B., tallied an unassisted goal on a strange bounce with just 93 seconds remaining in regulation time. But McGill stymied the Stingers celebration by pulling their goalie for an extra attacker and it paid off when Leslie Oles of Beaconsfield, Que., struck paydirt on a scramble in the crease at 19:44 with her 13th marker in 15 games to force overtime. Linemates Katia Clement-Heydra and Gabrielle Davidson drew assists on the play. Davidson continues to lead the RSEQ scoring race with a 15-17-32 record in 17 games, two points ahead of Clement-Heydra and three ahead of Oles.
The teams remained deadlocked at 1-1 after a five-mnute sudden-death overtime, so they proceeded to a five-man shootout. It didn't look promising for the Martlets when two of their big guns, Katia Clement-Heydra and Leslie Oles, failed to score. Lavoie, a 5-foot-5 rookie forward who had only scored two goals in 13 games, was picked next and the rest, as they say, is history.
"I was happy for MP because she missed on three glorious chances early in the game and at the end of the first period, she felt very bad about not putting the puck in the net," said McGill head coach Peter Smith about Lavoie, a 21-year-old physical education major. "She's a first year kid but I put her in the shootout because I like what I see in practice. She's got lots of confidence and played it smart, taking a shot instead of trying to make a move. There was a lot of snow on the ice, especially after overtime. She took a beautiful shot to the goalie's right side and it nicked off the post and went in. She played a really solid game."
McGill had a 48-19 edge in shots but had a difficult time solving Concordia goalie Katherine Purchase, who made 46 saves in a losing cause. Martlets netminder Brittany Smrke registered 18 saves, plus five more in the shootout, for the win, improving to 7-3-0 on the season.
Both teams went 0-for-5 on the power-play.
Next on tap for McGill, which sits second in the RSEQ conference with a 13-4-0 record, will be a visit from the last-place Carleton Ravens (3-13-0) on Friday, Feb. 13. It will no doubt be an unlucky Friday the 13th for one of the teams. Puck-drop at McConnell Arena is slated for 7 p.m.
MARTLET MURMURS: McGill is now 5-1 lifetime in RSEQ shootouts and it was their first since Nov. 10, 2013 when they defeated visiting Carleton 3-2 with Oles and Davidson connecting in the penalty-shot session, which was won 2-1... The Martlets also lost 4-3 in a shootout to Carleton at McConnell Arena on Jan. 22, 2012. The Ravens won that 2-1 in a session that featured 12 shooters... McGill's other three shootouts were in 2010-11: a 4-3 home win over Montreal (N-13-10), a 2-1 road win at Carleton (N-27-10) and a 2-1 win at Montreal (F-18-11).
