News

Dapper Daoust directs demolition derby in rout over Ravens

Published: 11 February 2012

(Rookie Melodie Daoust is the third-leading scorer in the nation. Photo by Derek Drummond)

OTTAWA - Rookie Melodie Daoust continued her torrid scoring rampage with two goals and a pair of assists as No.2-ranked McGill exploded for six unanswered goals en route to a 6-1 road victory over the Carleton Ravens in women's university hockey action at the CU Ice House, Saturday.

The Martlets, who improved their lifetime record against the Ravens to 65-1-1, outshot Carleton 39-19 and went 0-for-3 on the power-play. Carleton was 1-for-3.

Daoust, a 5-foot-6 forward from Valleyfield, Que., has amassed 16 points in her last five contests. She scored 20 seconds after Carleton had taken an early 1-0 lead on Kristen MacDonald's power-play tally, igniting a six-goal rally by the Martlets, five of them taking place in the second period. Daoust, a physical education freshman, set up the winning tally by Kim Ton-That of Beaconsfield, Que., at 1:06 of the middle stanza. Six minutes later, she helped McGill extend their lead to 3-1, assisted on Katia Clement-Heydra's 18th goal of the season. Minutes later, Daoust made the score 4-1 with a shorthanded effort at 9:14

"She been playing great and has a great handle on the puck," said head coach Peter Smith, who improved to 320-114-32 lifetime behind the McGill bench. "The improvement in her skating from the beginning of the year until now is just phenomenal. She really distributes the puck well, plays within the system and doing a good job. I'm really happy for her."

Daoust, a member of the Canadian national under-22 program has emerged as the leading candidate for CIS rookie-of-the-year honours. She now leads the Quebec conference scoring race and ranks third in the nation, with a whopping 40 points, including 15 goals, in just 17 contests. It is the third highest single-season points total in school history, behind the 54 racked up in 2008-09 by Ann-Sophie Bettez and the 46 scored that same season by then rookie Marie-Andree Leclerc Auger.

Rounding out the scoring for McGill was defenceman Adrienne Crampton (2nd) of Toronto and centre Leslie Oles of Beaconsfield, Que., who connected for her 16th of the season.

Goaltender Charline Labonte made 18 saves and improved her record to 15-2 with a stingy 1.12 goals-against average and a .941 save percentage. The fifth-year veteran, who recently began a master's degree in sports psychology, now owns an 81-3-0 lifetime record in 84 career regular season starts.

Tamber Tisdale, the beleaguered Ravens netminder, registered 33 saves in a losing cause as her record dropped to 6-8-0.

The Martlets improved to 17-1-1 and will close out the regular season at home agianst Concordia (3-13-1) on Feb. 19 in a 2 p.m. start.

MARTLET MURMURS: McGill's exhibition game against the Montreal Stars of the NWHL, slated for Feb. 17 has been cancelled due to injuries and scheduling issues. Based on the intensity of previous meeting between the two clubs, a 4-1 win for Montreal on Jan. 18, and an injury to team captain Cathy Chartrand, combined with some nicks and bruises, Coach Smith decided that it was too risky to have an exhibition game the week before playoffs.

SCORING SUMMARY
McGill 6 at Carleton 1
(Saturday, February 11, 2012 - CU Ice House)

GOALS BY PERIOD:
McGill 1-5-0 -- 6
Carleton 1-0-0 -- 1

1st Period-
1, Carleton, Kristen MacDonald 7 (S.Seiler, S.Wegner), 4:49 (PP).
2, McGill, Melodie Daoust 14 (K.Clement-Heydra, C.Chartrand), 5:09.

Penalties-
Daoust Mcg (high sticking), 3:01;
Moffatt Mcg (tripping), 10:12;
VanderVeen Car (hooking), 12:07.

2nd Period-
3, McGill, Kim Ton-That 7 (M.Daoust, G.Ferrari), 1:06.
4, McGill, Adrienne Crampton 2 (unassisted), 3:56.
5, McGill, Katia Clement-Heydra 18 (M.Daoust), 5:50.
6, McGill, Melodie Daoust 15 (K.Clement-Heydra), 9:14 (SH).
7, McGill, Leslie Oles 16 (A.S.Bettez, J.Peroff), 14:32.

Penalties-
Monuk Car (roughing), 10:28;
VanderVeen Car (bodychecking), 18:11.

3rd Period-
(No Scoring).

Penalties-
(None)

Shots on Goal-
McGill 13-15-11 -- 39.
Carleton 6-9-4 -- 19.

Power Play Opportunities-
McGill 0 / 3;
Carleton 1 / 3.

Goalies-
McGill, Charline Labonte (W, 15-2-0, 19 shots-18 saves; 60:00).
Carleton, Tamber Tisdale (L, 6-8-0, 39 shots-33 saves; 60:00).