McGill was the unquestioned No. 1 team all season long, so it was only fitting that they ended up on top tonight, with their leading scorers Ann-Sophie Bettez opening the scoring and Marie-Andrée Léclerc-Auger getting the clincher with 11:07 to go with a 3-1 win over the game Laurier Golden Hawks.
National team goalie Charline Labonté only had 12 shots, but made a big save when it was still 1-0, thwarting Laurier's Kaley Powers on a backhand. A couple minutes later, Laurier's Lauren Barch collided with teammate Stephanie Crarey on the backcheck, and the resulting confusion, Rebecca Martindale centred to Alessandra Lind-Kenny for the tap-in goal. Barch pulled a goal back with eight minutes left, but it was pretty moot.
McGill was the better team, but beyond coach Peter Smith's unbeaten Martlets going wire to wire, there was a lot of parity this season. Five of nine games at nationals required overtime, while multi-overtime games were prevalent in three of the four league semi-finals in Ontario and Québec.
Mariève Provost played the heroine for Moncton in the bronze-medal game, scoring the tying goal and the shooting winner in the 3-2 decision over Manitoba which gave the Aigles Bleues their first CIS medal. It might be the first time Canada West has not had a medal winner, although that's somewhat a function of the qualifying process.
Captain Brayden Ferguson scored 27 seconds into overtime to lift host St. FX past Ottawa 5-4 in overtime in the first-place game. The X-Women's Jessica Shanahan and the Gee-Gees' Samantha Delenardo each scored twice, while Ottawa's Jessika Audet, unfortunately for her, completed her decorated career with back-to-back overtime losses.
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ReplyDeleteIn 1998 (the first CIAU Championship), Alberta finished 5th and St. F.X. 6th.
ReplyDeleteI think Alberta medalled in 1999 and won it in 2000.