Bettez bops again as Martlets triumph for 77th time

MONTREAL - Ann-Sophie Bettez of Sept-Iles, Que., registered her third hat-trick of the season as No.1-ranked McGill defeated the Ottawa Gee-Gees 4-1 in CIS women's university hockey at McConnell Arena on Friday, extending their record win streak to 77 consecutive games.

It was also McGill's 26th straight conquest over Ottawa and improved their lifetime record against the Gee-Gees to 40-2-1 overall.

McGill, which led 3-1 after two periods, went 2-for-7 on the power-play and outshot the Gee-Gees 48-21, including a 19-8 margin in the second period.

Bettez, a two-time all-Canadian forward, connected on the power-play only 31 seconds into the contest. She also hit pay-dirt in the second (18:52) and third periods (17:54).

Vanessa Davidson of Kirkland, Que., contributed three points and was credited with what proved to be the game-winner at 5:50 of the second period. Davidson, who is McGill's all-time leading scorer, sits atop the Quebec conference scoring race with 12-19-31 in 17 contests.

Bettez is six points in arrears with an 18-7-25 dossier but missed two games while playing for the Canadian under-22 team in Germany last month.

The lone marker for the Gee-Gees was scored by Kayla Hottot, a Sombra, Ont., native who knotted the score at 1-1 midway through the opening frame.

Freshman netminder Taylor Salisbury of Surrey, B.C., made 20 saves for the victory and improved her unblemished record to 9-0-0. She leads the five-team league in goals-against average (1.11), save percentage (.944), wins (9) and shutouts (2).

Gee-Gees goaltender Stephanie Auger of Belleville, Ont., posted 44 saves in a losing cause and fell to 5-6-0.

The Martlets are 17-0 in the Quebec conference and with three games remaining before playoffs, will be looking for their third consecutive perfect season in CIS action. They will close out the campaign with a Valentine's Day matinee at Concordia on Sunday (3 p.m.), followed by another road game against the second-place Montreal Carabins (Feb. 19) and a home game against Concordia on Sunday, Feb. 21. That final contest has been moved from 2 p.m. faceoff to a 7 p.m. start, in order to accommodate a possible afternoon men's hockey playoff game between Nipissing and the Redmen.

MARTLETS MURMURS: All-Canadian Cathy Chartrand leads all CIS rearguards in goals and points with 8-14-22 in 17 games... She is four points ahead of York's Kelsey Webster, who has 5-13-18 in 10 more games played... McGill leads the Quebec league in both power play prowess (27.7%) and penalty-killing (91.0%)... The Martlets have only allowed six PPGs against and have tallied a league-leading five shorthanded markers.