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CIS final: Martlets golden again
ANTIGONISH, N.S. (CIS) - The top-seeded McGill Martlets played
60 minutes of near-perfect hockey to repeat as CIS women's
champions with a 3-1 gold-medal win over the No. 2 Wilfrid Laurier
Golden Hawks 2-0, Sunday night, at the Keating Centre on the campus
of St. Francis Xavier University.
Championship website:
www.universitysport.ca/e/championships/w_hockey/2009
The national final was a rematch of the 2008 title game that saw
the McGill capture its first-ever CIS banner with a 2-0 shutout of
Laurier.
The QSSF champion Martlets wrapped up a perfect season during
which they went 36-0 overall against CIS rivals. McGill has won 14
straight playoff duels since dropping a 4-0 decision to the Alberta
Pandas in the 2007 CIS final and has racked up 54 consecutive
victories against CIS opponents since a 2-1 non-conference shootout
loss to Alberta back on December 30, 2007.
The OUA champion Golden Hawks are 0-3 in the CIS championship game
since claiming their lone title in 2005 with a 4-1 win over
Alberta. In addition to their back-to-back gold-medal defeats at
the hands of McGill, the Hawks were downed 2-1 by the Pandas in
2006.
"I'm very proud of the way the girls played all season. I told
them in the room before the game to keep doing what we've doing all
year and we will be successful," said McGill head coach Peter
Smith, an assistant coach with the Canadian national team.
"Back-to-back championships feels great, I couldn't be
happier."
"Laurier played a good game, they're very strong on the
fore-check," Smith added.
"I can't even describe how I'm feeling. You always watch the
interviews on TV after a game like this and wonder why they can't
say anything. It's surreal right now," said team captain Chantal
Gauvin, a fourth-year defender from Dollard-des-Ormeaux, Que. "We
stuck to our game plan tonight and all tournament. I'm proud of all
the girls on the team."
First-team all-Canadian forward Ann-Sophie Bettez of
Sept-Îles, Que., sophomore Alessandra Lind-Kenny of Calgary
and CIS rookie of the year Marie-Andrée Leclerc-Auger of
Sherbrooke, Que., scored for McGill in the title match, while
first-team all-Canadian and 2006 Olympic gold medalist goaltender
Charline Labonté of Boisbriand, Que., made 11 saves to collect
her third win of the tournament.
Labonté, who last year became the first netminder in history
to play every minute of the CIS championship without allowing a
single goal, gave up three in the 2009 tourney as she improved her
career record at Nationals to 8-1.
"This is a big win for the McGill program," Labonté said.
"Last year was exciting because it was our first championship but
this year was just as good, if not better. It speaks a lot to the
team we had this year."
"Catherine (Ward) and I have to fly to Finland on Tuesday for the
national team so we are going to celebrate tonight and then get
ready for that," added Labonté, who, along with first-team
all-Canadian rearguard Catherine Ward of Town of Mt. Royal, Que.,
were announced last Tuesday as members of the Team Canada roster
for the 2009 IIHF world championship (April 4-12, Hameenlinna,
Finland).
Bettez, Labonté and Ward were all selected to the CIS
tournament all-star team along with second-team all-Canadian
defender Cathy Chartand of Lac Nominingue, Que. Ward was named the
championship MVP.
"I'm very excited right now. To win two in a row is a big deal,"
said Ward, who finished the weekend with three assists. "The
atmosphere was so different this time around and I couldn't be
happier. There were new girls on the team and we had a great
season. This tops it all."
Fourth-year centre Lauren Barch of Burlington, Ont., was the only
player to beat Labonté in the final, converting a nice pass
from second-team all-Canadian Andrea Ironside of Collingwood, Ont.,
with eight minutes remaining in the contest.
Barch (2-6-8) was the tournament leading scorer with eight points,
while Ironside (4-3) and Bettez (2-5) finished with seven points
apiece. Ironside's four markers were a championship high.
Ironside and all-Canadian forward Mariève Provost of Laval,
Que., a member of the bronze-medalist Moncton Aigles Bleues,
rounded out the championship all-star selection.
Third-year Laurier goalie Liz Knox of Stouffville, Ont., made 25
saves in the loss.
The first half of the opening period was evenly played but the
top-ranked Martlets dominated the final 10 minutes of the
frame.
Bettez opened the scoring at 11:41 on a perfect three-way passing
play with linemate Vanessa Davidson, a three-time all-Canadian from
Kirkland, Que., and Ward.
Ward hit Davidson at the red line with a long pass and Davidson
quickly redirected the puck to Bettez, who entered the Laurier zone
at full speed. The five-foot-four sophomore cut across the ice to
deke rearguard Kate Psota of Burlington, Ont., and beat Knox with a
perfect shot high on the glove side.
"Catherine made an amazing play and Vinny (Davidson) made a
perfect pass, and luckily it went in," said Bettez, who was second
in the nation in scoring this season with a QSSF-record 54 points
in only 18 conference games.
The line of Bettez, Davidson and Leclerc-Auger, who was named game
MVP for McGill, gave all kinds of trouble to Laurier in the final
moments of the first stanza.
Knox got the pad out to stop a Davidson shot off a Bettez pass
with four minutes remaining, and Bettez just missed when the puck
jumped over her stick at the end of a two-on-one with Davidson.
"We have great chemistry. Each of us brings different things to
the line, skills, strength and speed. We enjoy playing together,"
Bettez said.
The Martlets had a 7-3 edge in shots on goal after 20 minutes.
McGill kept applying pressure to start the second period but it
was Laurier which had the first scoring chance four minutes in,
when a sprawling Labonté stoned sophomore forward Kaley Powers
of Kingston, Ont., with her left pad.
Seconds later, it was Knox's turn to keep a sure goal out as she
slid to her left to rob Alyssa Cecere of Brossard, Que., with her
glove.
Lind-Kenny netted the game-winner and doubled the Martlets' lead
at 6:29 when she redirected a perfect cross-ice pass from Rebecca
Martindale of Kingston behind Knox. Martindale came out of the
corner with the puck after two Laurier players collided behind
their net.
Chartrand had a chance to send McGill into the second intermission
with a three-goal cushion when she was sent on a partial breakaway
coming out of the penalty box with just over a minute left, but
last year's CIS championship MVP couldn't convert.
The Martlets outshot the Hawks 16-3 in the middle frame for a 23-6
advantage after 40 minutes.
Desperate for a goal, Laurier came out with a lot of energy in the
third but still couldn't solve the McGill defensive puzzle.
Instead, it was Leclerc-Auger who struck next, all but sealing the
Martlets' victory with a power play marker at 11:07. The speedy
freshman walked out of the corner untouched and beat Knox along the
ice to make it 3-0.
The Hawks did respond 53 seconds later when Barch completed a
perfect give-and-go with Ironside, but it was all the offence the
OUA champions could muster.
McGill finished 1-of-7 on the power play, while Laurier was
blanked on four opportunities.
SCORING
SUMMARY
McGill 3, Wilfrid Laurier 1
FIRST PERIOD
SCORING:
1. McG Ann-Sophie Bettez (2) (Vanessa Davidson, Catherine Ward),
11:41
PENALTIES:
McG too many men (served by Marie-Andrée Leclerc-Auger),
5:24, Lauren Barch (WLU) body checking, 19:21.
SECOND PERIOD
SCORING:
2. McG Alessandra Lind-Kenny (1) (Rebecca Martindale), 6:29
PENALTIES:
Alicia Martin (WLU) interference, 7:37; Andrea Bevan (WLU)
tripping, 15:54; Cathy Chartrand (McG) tripping, 16:46.
THIRD PERIOD
SCORING:
3. McG Marie-Andrée Leclerc-Auger (2) (Ann-Sophie Bettez),
11:07 PP
4. WLU Lauren Barch (2) (Andrea Ironside, Kaley Powers), 12:00
PENALTIES:
Lauren Barch (WLU) tripping, 7:23; Rebecca Martindale (McG)
slashing, 8:32; Heather Fortuna (WLU) tripping, 10:44; Stephanie
Crarey (WLU) roughing, 14:33; Andrea Bevan (WLU) body checking,
15:07; Catherine Ward (McG) roughing, 18:07; Marie-Andrée
Leclerc-Auger (McG) tripping, 19:15.
GOALS (by period)
WLU: 0-0-1:1
McG: 1-1-1:3
SHOTS ON GOAL (by period)
WLU: 3-3-6:12
McG: 7-16-5:28
POWER PLAY:
WLU: 0-4
McG: 1-7
GOALTENDERS
WLU - Liz Knox (L, 2-1, 28 shots, 25 saves, 58:07)
McG - Charline Labonté (W, 3-0, 12 shots, 11 saves,
60:00)
PLAYERS OF THE GAME:
WLU: Katherine Shirriff
McG: Marie-Andrée Leclerc-Auger
REFEREE: Mary-Anne Gage
LINESMEN: Allison Smith, Molly Simon
ATTENDANCE: 1,000
CHAMPIONSHIP
HONOURS
Tournament MVP: Catherine Ward, defence,
McGill
Tournament All-Stars:
Goaltender, Charline Labonté, McGill
Defence, Cathy Chartrand, McGill
Defence, Catherine Ward, McGill
Forward, Mariève Provost, Moncton
Forward, Ann-Sophie Bettez, McGill
Forward, Andrea Ironside, Wilfrid Laurier
R.W. Pugh Fair-Play Award: Suzanne Fenerty,
StFX
