缅北强奸

By Earl Zukerman

MONTREAL 鈥� The Quebec university women鈥檚 hockey playoffs begin Wednesday (March 4) with a pair of cross-town rivalries.

In Montreal, the No.1-ranked 缅北强奸 Martlets, who went 18-0 for the second straight year, will open their QSSF best-of-three semifinal series against fourth-place Concordia (3-13-2) in a 鈥淏attle of Montreal鈥� at McConnell Arena. In Ottawa, the second-place Gee-Gees (8-8-2) will host third-place Carleton (7-11-0) at the uOttawa Sports Complex.

Both games are slated for a 7 p.m. start.

The teams switch locales for Game 2 of the series on Friday, with a 7 p.m. start at the CU Ice House in Ottawa and a 7:30 p.m. faceoff at Concordia鈥檚 Ed Meagher Arena. If a deciding game is needed in either series, it will revert back to the Game 1 venues on Sunday afternoon. The third Concordia-缅北强奸 affair would start at 1 p.m., while the Carleton-Ottawa rubber match is set for 2:30 p.m.

The winners of both first-round matchups will cross paths in the QSSF League Championship Series for the Ed Enos trophy, March 11-15, and perhaps more importantly, both will qualify for a berth at the CIS national championship tourney in Antigonish, N.S., March 18-21.

Ottawa posted a 4-2 record in six games against the Ravens, outscoring them 17-8.

The defending national champion Martlets are looking to extend their undefeated streak to 48 consecutive contests against Canadian university opponents, dating back to a 2-1 post-overtime shootout loss to Alberta on Dec. 30, 2007.

In head-to-head competition with the Stingers, 缅北强奸 has won 26 in a row since losing a 2-1 decision at Concordia on Feb. 5, 2006.

This season, the Martlets swept all six confrontations, outscoring the Stingers by a lopsided 54-1 margin and outshooting them 290-89. The Martlets went 15-for-44 on the power play (34.1) and scored one shorthanded goal against Concordia, which was 0-for-21 with the man-advantage.

Netminder Charline Labont茅, a junior from Boisbriand, Que., registered five shutouts in the six games and kicked aside 88 of 89 shots. The only player to put a puck past Labont茅 was junior forward Kelly Feehan of Kirkland, Que., at 1:08 of the third period in a 5-1 win for the Martlets. Since then, Labont茅 has racked up a shutout string of 198 minutes and 52 seconds against Concordia, heading into the playoffs.

Ann-Sophie Bettez, a sophomore forward from Sept-Iles, Que., won the conference scoring title and finished second in the national points race, with 24 goals and 30 assists for 54 points in just 18 games. The 21-year-old management major established Quebec university single-season records in all three categories.

Freshman Marie-Andree Leclerc-Auger of Sherbrooke, Que., was the top scoring rookie in the country and finished fourth in the CIS scoring race with 18-28-46 in 18 contests.

Catherine Ward, a junior from Town of Mt. Royal, Que., had a 3-22-25 record in 15 games to lead all rearguards in assists and rank second in points to Laurier鈥檚 Andrea Bevan, who played in 11 more games. Ward missed three contests while playing for Team Canada at the under-22 world championships in Germany.

Four other members of the Martlets (D Cathy Chartrand, F Vanessa Davidson, F Alyssa Cecere and F Carly Hill) will be back in the lineup for the opening playoff match after missing the last four while representing Canada at the world university games in China.

QSSF WOMEN鈥橲 HOCKEY CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS

Wed., Mar. 4
7 p.m. 鈥� Concordia @ 缅北强奸 (Game 1)
7 p.m. 鈥� Carleton @ Ottawa (Game 1)

Fri., Mar. 6
7 p.m. 鈥� Ottawa @ Carleton (Game 2)
7:30 p.m. 鈥� 缅北强奸 @ Concordia (Game 2)

Sun., Mar. 8
1 p.m. 鈥� Concordia @ 缅北强奸 (Game 3, if necessary)
2:30 p.m. 鈥� Carleton @ Ottawa (Game 3, if necessary)

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