TROIS-RIVIERES, Que. – Mathieu Pompei, a fifth-year senior from Laval, Que., registered a hat-trick, including the game-winner, as McGill hung on for a 6-5 road victory over UQTR in OUA men's hockey, Wednesday.
 
It gave the Redmen a split in their two-game regular season series between the bitter archrivals but McGill has won three of four confrontations, including preseason play.
 
Things didn't bode well when Gabriel Slight gave the Patriotes a 1-0 lead just 108 seconds after the opening faceoff but McGill roared back with six consecutive goals before the Pats could stop the bleeding. The home side then scored four unanswered goals to make the final moments a heart-thumping finish.
 
Pompei, a 5-foot-7, 166-pound centre, continued his torrid pace and moved into second place in the OUA scoring race with 16 points, including five goals, in eight games.
 
Teammate Dominic Talbot-Tassi contributed three assists. The sophomore defenceman moved into 10^th among OUA scoring leaders – third among rearguards – with a 1-10-11 record in eight games.
 
Rounding out the scoring for McGill was sophomore Christophe Lalonde, rookie Alexandre Sills and Jerome Verrier, in his first game back after a league-imposed three-game suspension.
 
UQTR markers were tallied by Tommy Giroux, Pierre-Maxime Poudrier, Pierre-Olivier Morin and Charles-David Beaudoin, whose, power-play goal at 15:10 of the final stanza, narrowed the gap to one goal.
 
Both teams had 33 shots on net with UQTR holding a 17-6 advantage in the final frame against McGill, which played shorthanded for seven of the final 22 minutes. The Redmen went 2-for-4 on the power-play, while the Pats connected on one of five chances.
 
McGill netminder Jacob Gervais-Chouinard made 28 saves for the victory, improving his record to 2-1. Alexandre Belanger, who only played the final two periods, took the loss relief of starter Sebastien Auger. Belanger was beaten twice on 19 shots while Auger conceded four goals on 14 shots.
 
McGill, which improved to 6-2-0, will host the Laurentian University Voyageurs (4-3-1) on Saturday, Nov. 5 at 7 p.m.  UQTR (5-4-0) will play Nipissing University Lakers (2-5-1) on Saturday at 4 p.m.
 
LINK TO COMPLETE BOXSCORE
 
SCORING SUMMARY
McGill 6 at UQTR 5
(Wednesday, November 2, 2016 - Le Colisee)

GOALS BY PERIOD:
McGill 4-2-0 -- 6
UQTR 1-1-3 -- 5

1st Period-
1, UQTR, Gabriel Slight 2 (Caouette), 1:48.
2, McGill, Christophe Lalonde 4 (Halbert, Talbot-Tassi), 7:55 (PP).
3, McGill, Mathieu Pompei 3 (Milne, Curcuruto), 9:54.
4, McGill, Mathieu Pompei 4 (Tardif-Richard, Chiarlitti), 12:56.
5, McGill, Alexandre Sills 2 (Talbot-Tassi, Kaminsky), 15:17.
 
Penalties-Chiarlitti Mcg (tripping), 3:33; Caouette Uqtr (roughing), 6:16.

2nd Period-
6, McGill, Jerome Verrier 2 (Delisle-Houde, Lalonde), 5:58.
7, McGill, Mathieu Pompei 5 (Talbot-Tassi, Milne), 10:19 (PP).
8, UQTR, Tommy Giroux 4 (Mimar), 11:14.
 
Penalties-Beaudry Uqtr (goaltender interference), 0:48; St-Hilaire Uqtr (interference), 9:37; Simard Uqtr (tripping), 14:58; Verrier Mcg (charging), 17:30.

3rd Period-
9, UQTR, Pierre-Maxime Poudrier 2 (Delisle, Lemay), 8:03.
10, UQTR, Pierre-Olivier Morin 3 (Mimar, Caron), 12:24.
11, UQTR, Charles-David Beaudoin 2 (Poudrier, Beaudry), 15:10 (PP).
 
Penalties-Delisle-Houde Mcg (kneeing), 0:39; Milne Mcg (hooking), 12:58; Bois Mcg (high sticking), 14:09.

Shots on Goal-
McGill 14-13-6 -- 33.
UQTR 5-11-17 -- 33.

Power Play Opportunities-
McGill 2 / 4;
UQTR 1 / 5.

Goalies-
McGill,
Jacob Gervais-Chouinard (W, 2-1-0, 33 shots-28 saves; 60:00).
 
UQTR,
Sebastien Auger (Start, ND, 14 shots-10 saves; 20:00);
Alexandre Belanger (L, 4-3-0, 19 shots-17 saves; 38:21).

Attendance: 309
Start: 7:05 PM
End: 9:17 PM
Length: 2:12

Referees-Mathieu Binette, Alexandre Garon.
Linesmen-Jonathan Bolduc, David Rodrigue.
 
THREE STARS:
1. MCG - 19 Mathieu Pompei
2. UQTR - 23 Marc-Olivier Mimar
3. MCG - 11 Daniel Milne
 
SOURCE:
Earl Zukerman
Communications Officer
Athletics & Recreation
McGill University
514-398-7012 (Tel.)
earl.zukerman@mcgill.ca
 
SEE COMPLETE McGILL VARSITY SCHEDULE ONLINE AT:
www.mcgillathletics.ca/calendar.aspx