Final Results
Nov 25, 06 - 19:00

Redmen 3 - Waterloo 4

Game Report by Earl Zukerman

MONTREAL – McGill finally met their Waterloo and in a much-anticipated battle against the leader of the OUA Far West, the No.3-ranked Redmen suffered a similar fate to Napoleon Bonaparte, enduring a slow, painful 4-3 defeat in men’s university hockey at McConnell Arena, Saturday.

McGill, however, is expected to make a much better recovery that the late General Bonaparte.

The win extended Waterloo’s current undefeated streak to 8-0-1 and their mastery over the Redmen to 5-0-2 dating back to McGill’s last victory in 1990.

Redmen team captain Benoit Martin scored a hat-trick, all on the power play, but that was in vain as Waterloo rallied from a 2-0 second-period deficit to win and improve their record to 11-2-1.

McGill, which outshot the Warriors 42-15, including a 15-2 margin in the first period, dropped to 8-3-1 (including an overtime loss) in the OUA Far East standings, three points back of first-place UQTR, who defeated Lakehead 4-2 to complete a weekend sweep over the Thunderwolves.

After Martin staked McGill to a 2-0 first-period lead, Waterloo whipped into gear with four straight goals, including second-period markers from Jordan Brenner and Kevin Hurley and third period goals from Ryan Macgregor (12:40) and Shane Hart (14:46).

Martin completed his first career hat-trick with 2:59 remaining and McGill pulled the goalie in the final minute but was unable to force overtime.

Waterloo goaltender Curtis Darling made 39 stops for the win, improving to 8-2-0. Mathieu Poitras, who entered the game with a 2.03 OUA leading goals-against average, took the loss as his record dropped to 6-3-1.

Despite going 3-for-11 on the power play, McGill failed to capitalize on numerous extra-man chances, most notably a two-man advantage for 1:29 midway through the final period.

The Redmen, which hadn’t lost a regular season home game in more than two years, are an unlikely 3-3-2 this season in the friendly confines of McConnell Arena to go with an equally unlikely, albeit impressive 5-0-0 road record. McGill will attempt to right the ship when they set sail for Thunder Bay, Ont., next week to close out the first semester with a pair of road games at Lakehead (9-4-1), Dec. 1-2.

REDMEN RAP: After 13 league games, McGill has clicked on 20.2 per cent of their power play situations (26-for-129) and have scored three shorthanded markers against their opponents, who have a combined 11.2% success rate (12-for-107)… The Redmen have scored 55.8% of their goals on special teams (29 of 52), while allowing 44.4% of their goals-against on special teams (12 of 27)… The McGill-Waterloo meeting was the first in league play since 1993… The teams did meet twice since then in non-conference play with the Warriors winning 4-1 at the Guelph tourney in 1997 and 4-3 in an overtime shootout at a tournament in Pierrefonds, Que., last December… Waterloo, one of only five OUA teams with a winning record versus McGill, improved to 14-6-3 lifetime against the Redmen

SCORING SUMMARY

FIRST PERIOD:
1. McGill - Benoit Martin (T. Kyres) - 08:19 (PP)
2. McGill - Benoit Martin (E. L’Italien, S. Shewchuk) - 11:18 (PP)

Penalties:
Waterloo - K. Pellerin (Trip), 3:00
Waterloo - S. Moir (Interfere), 7:02
Waterloo - M. Sitka (Hook), 9:37
McGill - M. Kovacevic (Rough), 9:56
Waterloo - R. Macgregor (Rough), 9:56
Waterloo - D. Edgeworth (Rough), 9:56
McGill - K. Morin (Interfere), 12:09
McGill - G. Demers (Hook), 17:01

SECOND PERIOD:
3. Waterloo - Jordan Brenner (R. MacGregor) - 8:24
4. Waterloo - Kevin Hurley (D. Philpott) - 17:37

Penalties:
Waterloo - D. Edgeworth (Slash), 1:06
McGill - M. Leclerc (High-stick), 3:49
McGill - E. Stilling (Interfere), 8:46
Waterloo - D. Philpott (Hook), 13:57
Waterloo - D. Edgeworth (High-stick), 16:08
McGill - E. L’Italien (Hook), 16:14
Waterloo - J. Brenner (Hook), 19:51

THIRD PERIOD:
5. Waterloo - Ryan MacGregor (K. Hurley) - 12:40
6. Waterloo - Shane Hart (unassisted) - 14:46
7. McGill - Benoit Martin (D. Urquhart, K. Morin) - 17:01 (PP)

Penalties:
McGill - S. Bloom (Trip), 3:45
Waterloo - C. Golem (Hook), 9:54
Waterloo - K. Hurley (Slash), 10:25
Waterloo - S. Moir (Trip), 16:43

GOALTENDING:
Waterloo:
Curtis Darling (W, 8-2-0; 3GA, 39 saves, 60:00)

McGill:
Mathieu Poitras (L, 6-3-1; 4GA, 11 saves, 59:03)
Empty-net (0GA, 0:53)

SHOTS BY PERIOD:
WAT: 2-7-6 -- 15
McG: 15-15-12 -- 42

GOALS BY PERIOD:
WAT: 0-2-2 -- 4
McG: 2-0-1 -- 3

PENALTIES (No. / Mins.):
WAT: 12/24
McG: 7/14

POWER PLAYS (Goals / Chances):
WAT: 0/6
McG: 3/11

ATTENDANCE : 497

REFEREE: Pascal St-Jacques

MOLSON CUP 3 STARS:
1. Curtis Darling, Waterloo
2. Benoit Martin, McGill
3. Ryan Macgregor, Waterloo

McGILL LINEUP SCRATCHES:
D Yan Turcotte
D *Leonard Verrilli
F Charles Gauthier (injd)
F Daniel Pharand
D *Ben Gazdic
F *Jeremy Burgess
G *Jake Jarvis
G Jean-Michel Filiatrault (dressed but DNP)

*freshman