KINGSTON, Ont. -- Senior Mathieu Pompei tallied twice and rookie David Storto scored the game-winner at 17:55 of the third period as No.1-ranked McGill escaped from the country's most famous penitentiary city with a 4-3 road victory over the Royal Military College Paladins, Friday.

It was the 1,001st lifetime victory for the Redmen against Canadian university opponents and improved McGill's record to 62-8-4 overall against the Paladins.

The Remen jumped into a 3-0 first period lead on goals by defenceman Dominic Talbot-Tassi (who needed just 67 seconds to tally his ninth of the season), and Pompei, who struck for his 12th and 13th markers of the season at 3:25 and 16:41, respectively. Talbot-Tassi is ranked second among all CIS rearguards in goals, assists and points with a 9-17-26 record in 18 contests.

Then McGill watched in horror as RMC rallied in the third period with three straight goals from the sticks of John Livingston (4:42), Bruce Hornbrook (8:57) and Eric Louis-Seize (13:21).

With sudden-death overtime looming, Storto struck for the decisive goal, converting passes from Liam Heelis and Patrick Delisle-Houde. It was the first official goal of the OUA season for the 5-foot-10, 184-pound native of Mascouche, Que., who previously tallied an exhibition marker -- also against RMC -- in a 5-1 preseason win on home-ice, Sept. 26.

The Redmen had a 42-38 advantage in shots as 20-year-old freshman Joe Fleschler, a 6-foot-5, 212-pound native of Summit, N.Y., became the first American goaltender ever to start for McGill. He made 25 saves to collect his first CIS victory. He started in place of Jacob Gervais-Chouinard, who was given the night off after 13 consecutive starts between the pipes.

RMC goalie Matt Murphy took the loss despite a 38-save performance.

McGill, which entered the game with the top power-play in the nation -- with 33 goals in 99 chances -- went 0-for-4 with the man-advantage, failing to score a PPG for only the fourth time in 18 league games. The Paladins went 1-for-3 with the extra attacker.

High-scoring Redmen blueliner Samuel Labrecque was held off the scoresheet, ending a seven-game point-scoring streak. It marked only the fourth time this season that he had failed to register at least a point. Nonetheless, he still leads the nation in scoring with 32 points, including 13 goals, in 18 games. Teammates David Rose (29 pts) and Mathieu Pompei (27) rank second and third, respectively, among CIS point-getters.

McGill, which jumped into sole possession of first place in the OUA East with a stellar 15-2-1 record, now gets a three-week break for exams and holidays. They will resume their schedule at the end of the month with a pair of non-conference games against NCAA teams, at Yale (Dec. 29) and Holy Cross (Dec. 30). The regular season resumes in the new year with road games at Laurentian in Sudbury, Ont., and Nipissing in North Bay, Ont., Jan. 8-9, respectively.

LINK TO CIS SCORING LEADERS

LINK TO CIS STANDINGS

LINK TO COMPLETE BOXSCORE

SCORING SUMMARY
McGill 4 at RMC 3
(Friday, December 4, 2015 - Constantine Arena)

GOALS BY PERIOD:
McGill 3-0-1 -- 4
RMC 0-0-3 -- 3

1st Period-
1, McGill, Dominic Talbot-Tassi 9 (Milne, Rose), 1:07.
2, McGill, Mathieu Pompei 12 (Milne, Curcuruto), 3:25.
3, McGill, Mathieu Pompei 13 (Curcuruto), 16:41.

Penalties-RMC Bench (served by Keenan; too many men), 6:29.

2nd Period-
(No Scoring).

Penalties-Livingston Rmc (boarding), 5:02; Millette Mcg (tripping), 16:01; Bonneau Mcg (roughing), 18:15; Savery Rmc (roughing, roughing), 18:15.

3rd Period-
4, RMC, John Livingston 4 (unassisted), 4:42.
5, RMC, Bruce Hornbrook 8 (Keenan, Domenico), 8:57 (PP).
6, RMC, Eric Louis-Seize 6 (Savery), 13:21.
7, McGill, David Storto 1 (Heelis, Delisle-Houde), 17:55.

Penalties-Bois Mcg (high sticking), 5:34; Lambert-Lemay Mcg (cross checking), 7:56; Gill Rmc (cross checking), 9:33.

Shots on Goal-
McGill 19-9-14 -- 42.
RMC 8-8-12 -- 28.

Power Play Opportunities-
McGill 0 / 4;
RMC 1 / 3.

Goalies-
McGill, Joe Fleschler (W, 1-0-0, 28 shots-25 saves; 60:00).
RMC, Matt Murphy (L, 1-7-0, 42 shots-38 saves; 58:29).

Attendance: 250
Start: 7:09 PM
End: 9:24 PM
Length: 2:15

Referees-Brad Moore & (unavailable).
Linesmen-Chris Ryan, Dan McKeown.

1. MCG - 25 David Storto
2. MCG - 19 Mathieu Pompei
3. RMC - 16 Eric Louis-Seize

SOURCE:
Earl Zukerman
Communications Officer
Athletics & Recreation
McGill University
514-398-7012 (Tel.)
m.athletics.mcgill.ca (mobile website)
www.mcgill athletics.ca
earl.zukerman@mcgill.ca
@EarlZukerman (twitter)
 
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www.mcgillathletics.ca/calendar.aspx