Zesty Zane nets winner as depleted Martlets rally

By Earl Zukerman

OTTAWA – Defenceman Lisa Zane of Mississauga scored the game-winner just 21 seconds into the third period and Rebecca Martindale, a senior from Kingston, Ont., added an insurance tally four minutes later as No.1-ranked McGill rallied to double Ottawa 4-2 in women’s university hockey on Saturday afternoon.

The Martlets (15-0), playing without the services of four players who were headed to China for the World University Games, extended their streak to 44 consecutive victories against CIS opponents. It was also Ottawa’s 18th consecutive loss to McGill, which owns a 32-2-1 record in their last 35 meetings against the Gee-Gees.

Head coach Peter Smith, who picked up his 251st career victory, iced a lineup that was missing the services of rearguard Cathy Chartrand, plus forwards Alyssa Cecere, Vanessa Davidson and Caroline Hill – each of whom had left earlier in the day with Team Canada for the Winter Universiade Games in Harbin, China.

Gatineau native Christine Allen and Kelsey deWit of St. Andrews, Ont., had given the second-place Gee-Gees 1-0 and 2-1 leads, respectively.

But McGill bounced back twice to even the score at 19:10 of the opening stanza (Marie-Andrée Leclerc-Auger’s 16th) and 8:49 of the middle period (Ann-Sophie Bettez).

For Bettez, a sophomore from Sept-Iles, Que., it was her 21st marker of the season and she needs just one more goal to tie and two to break the Quebec university single-season record of 22 goals by Concordia’s Corinne Swirsky in 1999-00.

Leclerc-Auger, a freshman from Sherbrooke, leads all rookies in scoring, across the CIS, with a 16-22-38 record in just 15 gamers.

Charline Labonté of Boisbriand, Que., kicked aside 21 of 23 shots to run her record to 12-0, while Jessika Audet of Chatham, N.B., was credited with 32 saves in a losing cause and fell to 5-7. Labonté now owns a 94-9-3 career record in 106 starts for the Martlets.

Ottawa, which fell to 6-7-2, leads the third-place Carleton Ravens (6-9-0) by two points in the Quebec league standings.

McGill plays Carleton in the nation’s capital on Sunday afternoon and close out the regular season with a pair of games against Concordia next week.

MARTLET MURMURS: Forward Vicky Wells, a sophomore from Oshawa, Ont., had a bad collision along the boards in the first period and suffered a suspected broken arm just below the right wrist… The game was delayed about 15 minutes as she had to be removed from the ice on a stretcher and transported via ambulance to a nearby hospital… The Top 10 scoring leaders in the QSSF are all members of the Martlets, led by Bettez, who owns a 21-27-48 record in only 15 games.… McGill is the least penalized team in the Quebec conference with 112 minutes, compared to Carleton (134), Ottawa (206) and Concordia (234).The Martlets are one of two CIS teams that owns an undefeated record. No.2-ranked Laurier leads the OUA with a 26-0 record.


SCORING SUMMARY:

McGill 4 at Ottawa 2

(Feb 14, 2009 - uOttawa Sports Complex)

FIRST PERIOD:
Scoring –
1. Ottawa, Christine Allen (1) (A. Burrill, K. deWit) 6:52
2. McGill, Marie-Andree Leclerc-Auger (16) (A.S. Bettez, S. Tardif) 19:10

Penalties –
T. Brown Ott (hooking) 0:20,
A. Foster Ott (interference) 13:11

SECOND PERIOD:
Scoring –
3. Ottawa, K. deWit (1) (A. Burrill, J. Spruyt) 2:07
4. McGill, A. Bettez (21) (J. Peroff, M. Leclerc-Auger) 8:49

Penalties –
F. Desforges Ott (hooking) 2:29,
J. Peroff Mcg (tripping) 10:42,
C. Gauvin Mcg (roughing) 11:52,
J. Peroff Mcg (hooking) 14:09,
A.S. Bettez Mcg (hooking) 14:25,
BENCH Mcg coach (Served by A. Wells) 18:04

THIRD PERIOD:
Scoring –
5. McGill, Lisa Zane (1) (J. Peroff) 0:21
6. McGill, Rebecca Martindale (8) (A. Soberano, C. Ward) 4:14

Penalties –
S. Rabinovich Mcg (hooking) 6:34,
A.S. Bettez Mcg (interference) 12:27,
A. Burrill Ott (roughing) 13:40

SHOTS BY PERIOD:
McG: 17 6 13 -- 36
OTT: 9 11 3 -- 23

GOALS BY PERIOD:
McG: 1 - 1 - 2 -- 4
OTT: 1 - 1 - 0 -- 2

POWER PLAY CONVERSION:
McGill 0-4.
Ottawa 0-7.

PENALTIES (No./Mins.):
McGill 7-14.
Ottawa 4-8.

GOALTENDERS:

McGill
Charline Labonte [W, 12-0-0; 60:00, SV: 21, GA: 2]


Ottawa
Jessika Audet [L, 5-7-0; 59:30. SV: 32, GA: 4]
Empty-net [0:30, 0GA]

Start : 2:00 PM

End : 4:23 PM

Referee: Carol Banks


THREE GAME STARS:
-------------------------------
1. MCG - 24 Ann-Sophie Bettez
2. MCG - 22 Marie-Andree Leclerc-Auger
3. OTT - 16 Kelsey deWit


McGILL LINEUP SCRATCHES:
-----------------------------------
G Kalie Townsend
G Gabrielle Smith (dressed but DNP)
D Cathy Chartrand (at World University Games)
F Alyssa Cecere (at World University Games)
F Vanessa Davidson (at World University Games)
F Caroline Hill (at World University Games)