Courtesy of host organizing committee
SASKATOON (CIS) – Johnny Lazo scored 16 minutes and 22
seconds into the second overtime period to propel the top-seeded
University of Alberta Golden Bears to the gold-medal final of the
CIS men’s hockey championship thanks to a 3-2 win over the
No. 4 McGill Redmen Saturday afternoon in front of 3,041 fans at
Credit Union Centre.
With the win, Canada West champion Alberta finishes atop Pool A
with a 2-0 record and will face either No. 3 Windsor or No. 5
Saskatchewan for the University Cup Sunday at 1:30 p.m.
Saskatchewan Time.
The Bears hold the all-time mark with 13 CIS titles and will skate in their 19th championship match on Sunday, another record. They last triumphed in 2008, losing the 2010 final to Saint Mary’s since then.
McGill returns home with a 1-1 record, while Carleton placed
third in the pool at 0-2.
Lazo broke a 2-2 tie when he was able to get free in front of the
net and tip a Kruise Reddick centering pass past McGill netminder
Jacob Gervais-Chouinard, who was sensational throughout the duel as
his team was outshot 55-20, including 22-3 in the third period.
“I was just in the right spot and the right time,” said
Lazo of his game-winning goal. “It’s such an amazing
feeling. We played so well the entire game, it would have been a
shame to drop that one.”
After a scoreless opening period, Alberta took a 1-0 lead 7:52 into
the middle frame on a goal from Reddick. The third-year forward
skated to the high slot and beat Gervais-Chouinard with a wrist
shot glove side.
McGill tied the affair at 1-1 eight minutes later on an unassisted
tally from Guillaume Langelier-Parent, who came out of the corner
with the puck to beat freshman Lucas Siemens with a low backhand
shot.
The Redmen took the lead early in the third with a power play
goal from defenceman Jean-Philippe Mathieu, who scored on a long
wrister at the one-minute mark on the power play.
Alberta got the equalizer at 7:13 of the third period when a shot
from Jamie Crooks found its way through traffic in front of the net
before hitting the post. The puck fell straight down and Brett
Ferguson was first to the loose puck tapping it into the open
cage.
Gervais-Chouinard was fantastic in net for McGill making 52 saves
and taking home player of the game honours for the Redmen.
“Chouinard, he was the player of the game, it was an
unbelievable performance by him,” said McGill head coach
Kelly Nobes.
Despite the loss, the future is promising for the Redmen, who were
making their sixth University Cup appearance in the past seven
years and claimed the first title in program history in 2012.
“As a coach you couldn’t be more proud of the group of
guys with the level they went to too in terms of character and
heart,” added Nobes. “We had 23 guys who had never been
here before, 23 guys who are in the first or second year with us,
and I think we showed pretty well, we gave ourselves a chance. We
certainly grew as a team and as a program this weekend.”
Gervais-Chouinard drew praise from the Golden Bears following the
game.
“We stuck to our game plan and peppered them with shots.
Their goalie, he played a great game,” said Lazo.
Ian Herbers, head coach of the Golden Bears immediately turned his
attention to tomorrow’s championship final during the
post-game press conference.
“We got to get recharged here, the coaches will be here
watching the game. Our plan is to come out at 1:30 tomorrow, play
our game and give everything we have, just like we did
today,” said Herbers.
Siemens, who was making his first start of the tournament after
backing up veteran Kurtis Mucha Thursday against Carleton, made 18
saves for Alberta in the winning effort, while Ferguson was named
player of the game for the Bears.
The PotashCorp University Cup presented by Co-op resumes Saturday
at 7 p.m. local time with the final game of Pool B between Windsor
Lancers and Saskatchewan.
SCORING SUMMARY
FIRST PERIOD
(no scoring)
PENALTIES:
Boutet (McG) roughing, 3:54;
Lindemulder (ALB) checking from behind, 10-minute misconduct,
14:25.
SECOND PERIOD
1. ALB Kruise Reddick (1) (Jordan Hickmott, Brett Ferguson),
7:52
2. McG Guillaume Langelier-Parent (1) (unassisted), 15:35.
PENALTIES:
Delisle-Houde (McG) checking to the head, 10-minute misconduct,
3:27;
McKiernan (McG) hooking, 5:37;
Mathieu (McG) holding, 6:05;
Foster (ALB) tripping, 6:27;
Craige (ALB) interference, 9:42;
Lindemulder (ALB) elbowing, 12:10;
Delisle-Houde (McG) interference, 18:36.
THIRD PERIOD
3. McG Jean-Philippe Mathieu (2) (Cedric McNicoll), 1:00 PP
4. ALB Brett Ferguson (1) (Jamie Crooks, Kruise Reddick), 7:13
PENALTIES:
Lazo (ALB) slashing, 0:55;
Laporte (McG) roughing, 5:13.
FIRST OVERTIME (10 minutes)
(no scoring)
PENALTIES:
(none)
SECOND OVERTIME (20 minutes)
5. ALB Johnny Lazo (1) (Kruise Reddick), 16:22
PENALTIES:
(none)
GOALS (by period)
ALB 0-1-1-0-1: 3
McG 0-1-1-0-0: 2
SHOTS ON GOAL (by period)
ALB 10-9-22-7-7: 55
McG 5-5-3-2-5: 20
POWER PLAY:
ALB 0-6
McG 1-5
GOALTENDERS
ALB – Lucas Siemens (W, 1-0, 20 shots, 18 saves, 2 GA,
86:22)
McG – Jacob Gervais-Chouinard (L, 1-1, 55 shots, 52 saves, 3
GA, 86:22)
PLAYERS OF THE GAME:
ALB: Brett Ferguson
McG: Jacob Gervais-Chouinard
REFEREES: Derek Zalaski, Scott Ferguson
LINESMEN: Nick Bilko, Mike Roberts
ATTENDANCE: 3041
START: 2:15
END: 5:42
LENGTH: 3:27
POOL STANDINGS, SCHEDULE & RESULTS (LOCAL TIME)
Pool A standings (FINAL)
GP W L GF GA PTS
1. ALB 2 2 0 6 4 4
2. McG 2 1 1 5 5 2
3. CAR 2 0 2 4 6 0
Pool B standings (after 2 of 3 games)
1. WSR 1 0 0 4 2 2
2. SSK 1 1 0 3 2 2
3. ACA 2 0 2 4 7 0
Thursday, March 20
13:00 Pool A #1: Alberta 3, Carleton 2
19:00 Pool B #1: Windsor 4, Acadia 2
Friday, March 21
13:00 Pool A #2: McGill 3, Carleton 2
19:00 Pool B #2: Saskatchewan 3, Acadia 2
Saturday, March 22
14:00 Pool A #3: Alberta 3, McGill 2 (2OT)
19:00 Pool B #3: No. 3 Windsor vs. No. 5 Saskatchewan (Sportsnet
360 & www.CIS-SIC.tv)
Sunday, March 23
13:30 Final: No. 1 Alberta vs. TBD (Sportsnet & www.CIS-SIC.tv)
* The webcasts of the 3 televised games will be on pay-per-view basis.
About Canadian Interuniversity Sport
Canadian Interuniversity Sport is the national governing body of university sport in Canada. Every year, 11,000 student-athletes and 700 coaches from 55 universities and four regional associations vie for 21 national championships in 12 different sports. CIS also provides high performance international opportunities for Canadian student-athletes at Winter and Summer Universiades, as well as numerous world university championships. For further information, visit www.cis-sic.ca or follow us on:
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