MONTREAL -- Nicole Howlett of Tsawwassen, B.C., scored the game-winner as sixth-ranked McGill upset No.1 Montreal with a convincing 5-1 result to open their RSEQ season and spoil a national championship banner-raising party at Arena CEPSUM on Friday.

The win snapped a six-game losing streak to the Carabins, dating back to a 2-1 overtime shootout victory, also at CEPSUM, on Oct. 23, 2015. McGill is now 39-18 in 57 lifetime meetings versus the Carabins.

Both teams came out flat after a prolonged pregame ceremony that delayed the start time by 26 minutes. The first period was scoreless with Montreal leading 5-3 in shots. But the Martlets dominated the second period, with a lopsided 22-8 margin in shots and 3-1 advantage on the scoreboard to take control of the contest. McGill added two more markers in the final stanza to finish the contest with four unanswered goals.

The Martlets finished with a dominant 37-23 advantage in shots.

"We played very well," said McGill head coach Peter Smith. "Maybe a little bit of a slow start in the first period but then we were very good in the second and third. We played fast and with really good structure."

Howlett, a six-foot psychology sophomore, netted her winner on a power-play marker at 18:09 of the middle frame to snap a 1-1 tie. It was only her fourth career goal in 38 games overall. She also added an assist on the team's final goal.

"She plays such a strong game down low," said Smith of his forward, who earned the first star. "She's six feet tall and she's pretty hard to move off the puck. On the power play she plants herself in front of the net and just does a great job all over the ice, really. She's improved so much from last year. It's always nice for a coach to see somebody put in the hard work in the off-season and have it pay off-- she really did a good job on that."

All five Martlet goals came from different players.

"You've got to like the diversity of scorers," Smith noted. "A team is so much more dangerous when you can get production from a variety of sources, and that's what I thought we had going tonight."

Olivia Atkinson of Oakville, Ont., opened the scoring to give the visitors a 1-0 lead at 3:52 of the second period.

Montreal's Alexandra Labelle replied just 104 seconds later on the man-advantage, which proved to be the Carabins' only goal of the game.

Howlett then regained McGill's lead, followed by Melodie Daoust's even-strength tally at 19:33 to close the period at 3-1,

Freshman Jade Downie-Landry of St. Jean-sur-Richelieu buried her first career regular season goal at 12:55 of the third. Fellow freshman Sidonie Chard, a kinesiology student from Kingston, Ont., also talied her first in conference play, at 15:56.

McGill rookie goaltender Tricia Deguire, who started all 12 preseason contests, made 22 saves to register her first official win in conference play.

"We gave her the golden helmet as our player of the game," Smith about Deguire, a native of Sherbrooke, Que.  "She made some great saves and handled the puck well. She brings a lot of confidence to her teammates."

Senior Carabins netminder Marie-Pier Chabot turned away 32 of 37 and took the loss.

The Martlets were 1-for-5 on the power play and erased three of four Carabins PP chances.

The Martlets (1-0-0) will host Concordia (1-1-0) in the McGill home opener on Sunday (Oct. 23) at 3 p.m. at McConnell Arena. Montreal (1-1-0) visits Carleton (0-0-0) that afternoon.
 
LINK TO COMPLETE BOXSCORE

SCORING SUMMARY
McGill 5 at Montreal 1
(Friday, October 21, 2016 - Arena CEPSUM @ UdeM)

GOALS BY PERIOD:
McGill 0-3-2 -- 5
Montreal 0-1-0 -- 1

1st Period-
(No Scoring)
 
Penalties-Dupuis Mtl (delay of game), 8:53; Beaulieu Mtl (bodychecking), 13:13; Downie-Landry Mcg (holding), 17:50.

2nd Period-
1, McGill, Olivia Atkinson 1 (Lavoie, Starnino), 3:52.
2, Montreal, Alexandra Labelle 4 (unassisted),  5:34 (PP).
3, McGill, Nicole Howlett 1 (Atkinson, Daoust), 18:09 (PP).
4, McGill, Melodie Daoust 1 (Dumais), 19:33.
 
Penalties-Cotter Mcg (tripping), 0:08; Cotter Mcg (bodychecking), 4:31; Beaulieu Mtl (interference), 17:25.

3rd Period-
5, McGill, Jade Downie-Landry 1 (Cotter), 12:25.
6, McGill, Sidonie Chard 1 (Cotter, Howlett), 15:56.
 
Penalties-Labelle Mtl (cross checking), 1:47; Downie-Landry Mcg (tripping), 7:15; Dubé Mtl (tripping), 12:45.

Shots on Goal-
McGill 3-22-12 -- 37.
Montreal 5-8-10 -- 23.

Power Play Opportunities
McGill 1 / 5;
Montreal 1 / 4.

Goalies-
McGill, Tricia Deguire (W, 1-0-0, 23 shots-22 saves; 60:00).
Montreal, Marie-Pier Chabot (L, 1-1-0, 37 shots-32 saves; 60:00).

Attendance: 340
Start: 7:56 PM
End: 10:01 PM
Length: 2:05

Referees-Vanessa Morin, Joanie Duchesneau.
Linesmen-Pauline Motet, Genevieve Gouin.
 
THREE STARS:
1. MCG - 22 Nicole Howlett
2. MCG - 27 Jade Downie-Landry
3. MCG - 17 Melodie Daoust


SOURCE:
Kirsten Whelan & Earl Zukerman
McGill Sports Info Office
(514) 398-7012