Davidson delivers in OT as Martlets trim Bisons

By Earl Zukerman

ANTIGONISH, N.S. – Senior Vanessa Davidson of Kirkland, Que., scored a power-play goal at 1:38 of sudden-death overtime as top-ranked McGill edged third-seeded Manitoba 2-1 on the opening day at the CIS women’s hockey championship before 750 at the Keating Millenium Centre in Antigonish, N.S., Thursday.

The Martlets (1-0), who won for the 52nd consecutive outing against Canadian university opponents, are one win away from reaching Sunday’s gold medal final for the third straight year. McGill earns a day off before meeting host St. Francis Xavier on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. Atlantic in the final Pool A round-robin match-up.

Championship website:
www.universitysport.ca/e/championships/w_hockey/2009

With the loss, Manitoba (0-1) will need to defeat host St.FX (0-0) Friday at 6:30 p.m. Atlantic in order to keep its gold-medal hopes alive.

Davidson, McGill’s all-time leading scorer, received a saucer pass from linemate Ann-Sophie Bettez of Sept-Iles, Que., and one-timed the puck past Bisons netminder Stacey Corfield, a Winnipeg native who registered 36 saves as the Quebec champion Martlets had a 38-19 edge in shots.

"I was just hoping to get a bounce. I saw the defender coming for me and then saw my teammate (Davidson) and was fortunate to get a pass to her," said Bettez, who had been hauled down by Manitoba defender Chelsea Braun, while on a partial breakaway 18 seconds into the extra frame, sending McGill to the power play. Braun was assessed a rare double minor on the play, which also included a holding infraction called by referee Katie Gullett.

“That kid (Corfield) was on fire. Oh my god she was good,” said McGill head coach Peter Smith. “But Vinny (Davidson) came up big for us tonight, as she so often does. She was blocking shots and played with so much heart. It was great to see her get the winner.”

Catherine Ward, a third-year all-Canadian rearguard from Town of Mt. Royal, Que., gave McGill the lead at 17:38 of the middle period. She snuck in from the blueline and pounced on a rebound, stuffing it past the outstretched arm of Corfield, who was lying prone on the ice after making back-to-back-saves on Bettez and CIS rookie of the year Marie-Andrée Leclerc-Auger of Sherbrooke, Que.

Manitoba, the Canada West champion, forced overtime with 5:09 remaining in the third when forward Sarah Stebeleski of Lorette, Man., beat national team netminder Charline Labonté of Boisbriand, Que., who had lost control of a juggled shot from the point. Labonté, who collected her 26th consecutive victory, improved to 103-9-3 lifetime in a McGill jersey.

Corfield, a second-team all-Canadian, stood on her head in the first period, as McGill outshot the Herd 13-6. The highlight stops came on McGill's only power-play opportunity of the stanza when Corfield's lateral movement stoned Bettez on two separate occasions.

Manitoba had won eight of its last nine games coming into the national tournament and used its momentum to push McGill right to the edge.

Smith knew the game was going to be intense.

"They beat a real good team in Alberta (to get to the championship) so we did not underestimate them. We worked real hard to be prepared for Manitoba and knew they would be hardworking and gritty. The nature of our team is to score early and we had a hard time finding the back of the net."

McGill was one-for-six on the power play, while Manitoba failed to score on four opportunities.

Bettez, an all-Canadian this season and last year's top freshman in the CIS, was named player of the game for the Martlets. Corfield earned the honours for Manitoba.

The Martlets improved to 38-2 overall, establishing a single-season record for victories, breaking the standard set last season when they posted a 37-4-1 mark.

MARTLET MURMURS: The game started after a prolonged 30-minute opening ceremony, which featured dignitaries from across the region… This is the third consecutive year that Manitoba and McGill have met in the first game of the round robin at the CIS National Championship. During the 52 game winning streak by McGill over CIS opponents so far, this was the first game that went into overtime against the Martlets and there had been only two previous matches that McGill had been involved in that had the winning margin at just one goal… McGill improved to 3-1 lifetime against Manitoba at the Nationals (2009: WON 2-1 (OT); in 2008: WON 6-0; in 2007: WON 4-1; in 2005: lost 3-0 in bronze medal game).



SCORING SUMMARY

Manitoba 1 at McGill 2 (OT)

(Mar 19, 2009 at Keating Millenium Centre)

FIRST PERIOD:
(No Scoring)

Penalties-
MAN: Leary (tripping), 10:59;
MCG: Leclerc-Auger (roughing), 14:16;
MCG: Leclerc-Auger (hooking), 18:55.


SECOND PERIOD:
1, McGill, Catherine Ward 1 (Leclerc-Auger, Bettez), 17:38.

Penalties-
MAN: Coates (interference), 6:59;
MAN: Ross (hooking), 13:50;
MCG: Chartrand (minor), 14:49.

THIRD PERIOD:
2, Manitoba, Sarah Stebeleski 1 (Minshull, Leary), 14:51.

Penalties-
MAN: Minshull (slashing), 7:31;
MCG: Chartrand (hooking), 11:26.

OVERTIME:
3, McGill, Vanessa Davidson 1 (Bettez, Ward), 1:38 (pp).

Penalties-
MAN: Braun (Dble. Minor: tripping, holding), 0:18.

GOALS BY PERIOD:
Man 0 - 0 - 1 - 0 -- 1
McG 0 - 1 - 0 - 1 -- 2

SHOTS BY PERIOD:
Man  6-6-7-0-19.
McG 13-13-11-1-38.

POWER PLAY:
Man 0 of 4;
McG 1 of 5.

PENALTIES (No./Mins.):
Man 6/12;
McG 4/8.

GOALTENDERS:
Manitoba,
Stacey Corfield [L,0-1, 38 shots-36 saves, 61:48].

McGill,
Charline Labonte [W, 1-0, 19 shots-18 saves, 61:48].


REFEREE: Katie Gullett.

LINESMEN: Molly Simon, Allison Smith.

PLAYERS OF THE GAME:
MAN: Stacey Corfield
McG: Ann-Sophie Bettez

ATTENDANCE-750



TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE & RESULTS
(All times LOCAL: Atlantic Time)

Pool A
1. McGill
3. Manitoba
5. StFX

Pool B
2. Wilfrid Laurier
4. Moncton
6. Ottawa

Thursday, March 19
Pool B #1: No. 2 Wilfrid Laurier 6, No. 6 Ottawa 1 19:30 Pool A #1: No. 1 McGill 2 No. 3 Manitoba 1 (OT)

Friday, March 20
16:00 Pool B #2: No. 4 Moncton vs. No. 6 Ottawa (SSN Canada webcast) 19:30 Pool A #2: No. 5 StFX vs. Loser Pool A #1 (SSN Canada webcast)

Saturday, March 21
16:00 Pool B #3: No. 4 Moncton vs. No. 2 Wilfrid Laurier (SSN Canada webcast) 19:30 Pool A #3: No. 5 StFX vs. Winner Pool A #1 (SSN Canada webcast)

Sunday, March 22
10:00 5th Place (SSN Canada webcast)
14:00 Bronze (SSN Canada webcast)
20:00 Final (THE SCORE * / SSN Canada webcast)

* 2-hour tape delay to 10 pm Atlantic / 9 pm Eastern

-CIS-



Earl Zukerman
Communications & Publications Officer
Dept. of Athletics & Recreation
McGill University
475 Pine Avenue West
Montreal, QC  H2W 1S4
CANADA
514-398-7012 (tel.)
514-398-1956 (fax)
www.athletics.mcgill.ca