X-Women conquered, Martlets streak now at 31

STE. ANNE DE BELLEVUE, Que. – They came, they saw, they were conquered.

Freshman Marie-Andrée Leclerc-Auger scored twice as No.1-ranked McGill defeated the No.6-ranked St. Francis Xavier X-Women 5-1 in a non-conference university women’s hockey game at Glenfinnan Arena in suburban Ste. Anne de Bellevue, Friday.

McGill outshot St.FX 48-16, including an 18-2 margin in the middle frame as they extended their win streak to 31 against Canadian University opponents.

Leclerc-Auger, a 20-year-old native of Sherbrooke, Que., who notched both of her markers on the power-play, is having a phenomenal rookie campaign and leads the Martlets in scoring with 20 goals and 35 points in 19 games overall. She has reached the 20-goal plateau faster than any player in McGill history, accomplishing the feat in six less games than it took Ann-Sophie Bettez to do in her freshman campaign last year.

The Martlets were tied 1-1 after one period and led 2-1 after two before solving X netminder Katie Harvieux, who ended up with 43 saves in a losing cause. McGill netminder Charline Labonté made 15 saves and improved to 10-2-0 overall and 81-9-3 over her three seasons with the Martlets.

Rebecca Martindale’s power-play goal at 12:27 of the second period broke a 1-1 tie and held up as the game-winner.

Rounding out the scoring for McGill was sophomore defenceman Cathy Chartrand and senior centre Vanessa Davidson, who has kept pace with linemate Leclerc-Auger. Davidson, the two-time league MVP, has an 18-16-34 record in 19 contests.

Carolyn Campbell, a sophomore from Ottawa, tallied the lone X goal, evening the score at 1-1 at 13:54 of the opening stanza.

McGill, which only drew two minor penalties for the second straight game, killed off both and countered with a 3-for-7 performance on the power-play.

The Martlets, 16-2-0 overall, will finish their three-games-in-three-days test on Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m., when they host the Dalhousie Tigers, who lost 6-5 in overtime to the Ottawa Gee-Gees, Friday. The X-Women will play Concordia Saturday at 5 pm.

Courtesy Earl Zukerman, McGill Communications

SCORING SUMMARY
St. Francis Xavier 1 at McGill 5
(Non-conference game @ Glenfinnan Arena, Ste. Anne de Bellvue, QC)

FIRST PERIOD:
Scoring -
1. McGill, Marie-Andree Leclerc-Auger, 5:39 PP
2. St.FX, Carolyn Campbell (C. Gavin) 13:54

Penalties -
L. Boucher St.FX (tripping) 4:46,
K. Ezard St.FX (hooking) 7:36,
M. Leclerc-Auger McG (tripping) 11:32

SECOND PERIOD:
Scoring -
3. McGill, Rebecca Martindale (C. Hill, C. Ward) 12:27 (PP)

Penalties -
N. Hansom St.FX (holding) 10:45,
L. Brown St.FX (roughing) 18:15

THIRD PERIOD:
Scoring -
4. McGill, Cathy Chartrand 4:47
5. McGill, Marie-Andree Leclerc-Auger (V. Davidson, C. Ward) 5:18 (PP)
6. McGill, Vanessa Davidson (A. Bettez, C. Ward) 9:32

Penalties -
L. Grant St.FX (interference) 1:35,
K. Ezard St.FX (tripping) 5:02,
L. Boucher St.FX (interference) 6:54,
L. Zane McG (tripping) 12:44

SHOTS BY PERIOD:
StFX: 5 2 9 -- 16
McG: 13 18 17 -- 48

GOALS BY PERIOD:
StFX: 1 0 0 -- 1
McG: 1 1 3 -- 5

PENALTIES (No./Mins)
St.FX 7-14.
McGill 2-4.

POWER PLAY CONVERSIONS:
St.FX 0-2.
McGill 3-7.

Goaltenders

St. Francis Xavier
Katie Harvieux [L. 0-1-0, 60:00, SV: 43 GA: 5]

McGill
Charline Labonte [W, 10-2-0, 60:00, SV: 15, GA: 1]

Start : 7:07 PM
End : 9:08 PM
Attendance : 101
Referee: Gabrielle Ariane-Lortie