º«¹úÂãÎè

By Earl Zukerman

TORONTO – Centre Guillaume Doucet scored one goal, added a helper and netted the lone decisive marker in a post-overtime shootout as º«¹úÂãÎè toppled Toronto 5-4 in a men’s OUA hockey game at Varsity Arena, Friday.

The win avenged last week’s 6-3 home ice loss to Toronto and improved º«¹úÂãÎè’s recent performance to 6-2-1, after opening league play with an uncharacteristic 0-4 start.

The Varsity Blues jumped into an early 2-0 lead but that was reduced to 2-1 after Toronto native Sam Bloom’s power play goal at 9:47 of the opening period. The teams were tied at 3-3 after two.

Doucet, a 5-foot-9, 179-pound physical education sophomore from Montreal, knotted the score at 2-2 only 39 seconds into the middle period. He then set up Eric L’Italien midway through the final stanza to give the Redmen their first lead -- at 4-3 -- but U of T left-winger Byron Elliott forced overtime with his 10th of the season and the Blues fourth power play goal of the night, at 15:06 of third period.

U of T went 4-for-6 on the power play, connecting twice with a two-man advantage. Including last week’s 6-3 win at McConnell Arena, the Blues have connected on 9-of-16 power-play chances against º«¹úÂãÎè this season.

Also scoring for the Redmen was right-winger Marc-Andre Daneau, a freshman from St. Hubert, Que., who made it 3-3 at 10:52 of the middle stanza.

Surprise starter Hubert Morin made 38 saves for the victory as Toronto outshot the Redmen 42-33. It was the inaugural regular season victory for the native of St. Georges de Beauce, Que., and his first appearance in five games, since suffering a shoulder injury in Kingston on Nov. 15. Blues’ netminder Andrew Martin made 28 saves and was saddled with the loss.

º«¹úÂãÎè players blocked 14 shots in the contest, including nine in the third period.

The Redmen are tied with Ottawa (5-4-3) for fourth place in the five-team division. º«¹úÂãÎè will play at Ryerson (3-9-1) on Saturday afternoon. º«¹úÂãÎè has a 32-6-1 lifetime mark against the Rams and haven’t lost at Ryerson since Jan. 13, 1989 when they suffered a 3-2 setback at St. Mike’s Arena. Since then, the Redmen have posted 16 consecutive road victories at Ryerson. However, they shocked the Redmen 3-0 at McConnell Arena last weekend, snapping a 13-game losing streak to the Redmen, dating back to Ryerson’s last win, a 5-2 decision on Feb.9, 2001.

REDMEN RAP: Doucet, who shot second and has only three goals on the season, was the sole player to score in the shootout, which last five shots… The other º«¹úÂãÎè to miss a chance at fame was senior Marko Kovacevic (4 goals)… The hired guns for U of T included Kyle Ventura (9 goals), Byron Elliott (10 goals) and Claudio Cowdrey (3 goals)… º«¹úÂãÎè sophomore Evan Vossen of Swift Current, Sask., had a goal disallowed in overtime as the on-ice officials ruled that there was a Redmen player in the crease… º«¹úÂãÎè is the fifth-highest penalized team in the league with 339 PIMs and rank second-to-last among the OUA’s 18 teams in penalty-killing with a 73.8 success rate… Of the 42 goals allowed by º«¹úÂãÎè in 13 games played, 21 have come on the power play.


SCORING SUMMARY

º«¹úÂãÎè 5 (OTS) at Toronto 4

(@ Varsity Arena)


FIRST PERIOD:
Scoring -
1. Toronto, Eddie Snetsinger (4) (B. Sherrard, B. Elliott) 1:52 (2PP)
2. Toronto, Claudio Cowdrey (3) (C. McDonald, E. Snetsinger) 3:03 (PP)
3. º«¹úÂãÎè, Sam Bloom (4) (A. Picard-Hooper, M. Kovacevic) 9:47 (PP)

Penalties -
G. Doucet Mcg (slashing) 1:20,
K. Morin Mcg (slashing) 1:36,
B. Teich Tor (tripping) 3:52,
M. Delost Tor (tripping) 9:04,
M. Daneau Mcg (boarding) 16:40

SECOND PERIOD:
Scoring -
4. º«¹úÂãÎè, Guillaume Doucet (3) (V. Lambert, M. Dorion) 0:39
5. Toronto, Joe Rand (7) (S. Kliewer, B. Elliott) 9:24 (PP)
6. º«¹úÂãÎè, Marc-Andre Daneau (1) (Y. Turcotte, S. Marcotte-Legare) 10:52

Penalties -
K. Morin Mcg (cross checking) 9:11,
B. Elliott Tor (slashing) 11:07,
S. Kliewer Tor (interference) 14:06

THIRD PERIOD:
Scoring -
7. º«¹úÂãÎè, Eric L Italien (4) (G. Doucet, E. Stilling) 12:34
8. Toronto, Byron Elliott (10) (E. Snetsinger, B. Sherrard) 15:17 (2PP)

Penalties -
K. Morin Mcg (high sticking) 13:24,
K. Morin Mcg (GE56 ejection for 3 stick infractions) 13:24,
E. L Italien Mcg (tripping) 15:06,
C. Cowdrey Tor (interference) 15:34

OVERTIME (5-mins.)
Scoring -
(none)

Penalties -
(none)

SHOOTOUT
Round 1 - TOR - Kyle Ventura - No
Round 1 - MCG - Guillaume Doucet - Yes
Round 2 - TOR - Byron Elliott - No
Round 2 - MCG - Marko Kovacevic - No
Round 3 - TOR - Claudio Cowdrey - No

SHOTS ON GOAL:
MCG: 8 - 12 - 7 - 5 - 1 (33)
TOR: 10 - 7 - 17 - 8 - 0 (42)

GOALS BY PERIOD:
MCG: 1 - 2 - 1 - 0 - 1 -- 5
TOR: 2 - 1 - 1 - 0 - 0 -- 4

POWER PLAY CONVERSIONS:
º«¹úÂãÎè 1-5.
Toronto 4-6.

PENALTIES:
º«¹úÂãÎè 6/12.
Toronto 5/10.


GOALTENDERS:
º«¹úÂãÎè
Hubert Morin [W, 1-2-0; 65:00, SV: 38, GA: 4]

Toronto
Andrew Martin [L, 4-3-0; 65:00, SV: 28, GA: 4]


Start : 7:31 PM

End : 9:52 PM

Attendance : 150

Referee: Ed Munroe


MOLSON CUP THREE STARS
-----------------------------------
1. Guillaume Doucet, º«¹úÂãÎè
2. Hubert Morin, º«¹úÂãÎè
3. Eddie Snetsinger, Toronto


McGILL LINEUP SCRATCHES:
----------------------------------
G: Danny Mireault (dressed but DNP)
G: Jake Jarvis
D: Spencer Brennan
D: Glenn Tindle
F: Benoit Arsenault (eye)
F: Timothy Drager
F: Andrew Wright
F: Maxime Langelier-Parent (injd)