Wednesday, January 18, 2006

No. 2 Redmen suffer first conference loss of season, fall to No. 10 UQTR


TROIS-RIVIERES -- A disputed powerplay goal by Christian Laroche ended McGill`s bid for an undefeated season as 10th-ranked UQTR upset No. 2 McGill 4-2 in men`s university hockey before, 1,022 fans at Le Colisee in Trois-Rivieres, Tuesday.

Eric Beaudin added an insurance marker with only 1:43 remaining as the second-place Patriotes improved to 12-4-1, one point back of McGill (12-1-2) in the OUA Far East standings.

The loss ended McGill`s 13-0-2 undefeated streak (including one win last season). It also prevented the Redmen from winning their ninth consecutive road game, which would have tied the long-standing school record, set in the 1936-37 season.

With the score tied at 2-2, Laroche was awarded the game-winner at 5:10 of the third period after McGill netminder Mathieu Poitras fell on a loose puck in his crease and after a lengthy discussion, referee Nicolas Dutil accepted the goal judge`s ruling that the puck had crossed the line.

Yan Gaudette and Nicolas Pelletier had given the Pats a 2-0 lead at 3:59 of the first period and 4:02 of the second, respectively.

But McGill battled back in the middle stanza on powerplay goals by Mathieu Leclerc (10:05) and Charles Gauthier (12:15).

The Pats outshot McGill 40-26 as Redmen netminder Mathieu Poitras suffered his first loss of the season and fell to 9-1-1.

McGill, which has clinched a playoff berth for the 20th time in the last 23 years, will host fourth-place Concordia (4-9-3) on Friday night at McConnell arena

REDMEN GAME NOTES: McGill was 2-for-7 on the power play and killed off 7-of-8 shorthanded situationsS Shawn Shewchuk was held pointless for the first time this season, ending his point-scoring streak at 13 gamesS After 15 regular-season games, McGill has outscored opponents 16-8 in the first period, 25-5 in the second and 17-7 in the thirdS Lineup scratches for the Redmen included injured junior F Lucas Madill, plus healthy scratches F Ken Davis, F Daniel Pharand, D Louis-Simon Allaire and D David Gasser.

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Source:

Earl Zukerman
McGill Sports Information