FREDERICTON — The reigning champion University of Montreal Carabins are headed to the gold-medal game for the third straight year after defeating the tournament host St. Thomas University Tommies 4-0 Saturday at the CIS women’s hockey championship.
The Carabins will play the McGill University Martlets on Sunday.
PROGRAMMING NOTE: Watch the CIS women’s hockey final on Sportsnet 360 Sunday starting at 5:30 p.m. EST
“St. Thomas gave us a very good game,” said Montreal head coach Isabelle Leclaire. “I’m pretty sure they played their best hockey of the season. You can’t ask for a better preparation. I think they tested us today, so I’m happy about that. We had to step it up.”
The Martlets secured their spot in the final with an 8-2 win over the University of Moncton Aigles Bleues on Saturday.
Audrey Gariepy, Katherine Richard, Maude Gelinas and Ariane Barker supplied the scoring for the Carabins, who defeated the University of Calgary last season for their first championship.
Elodie Rousseau-Siro made 23 saves for the shutout.
“It’s really fun to be back in the final for the third time in a row,” said Rousseau-Siro. “We worked hard all year for that.”
Kristin Wolfe stopped 30-of-34 shots for the Tommies.
In the other semifinal, Gabrielle Davidson led McGill over Moncton with two goals and two assists while Chelsey Saunders, Brittney Fouracres and Katia Clement-Heydra each had a goal and two assists.
Leslie Oles, Jordan McDonell and Stefanie Pohold also scored for the Martlets and Taylor Hough stopped 11 shots for the win.
Natacha Bergeron and Elisa Savoie scored for Moncton. Goaltenders Emile Bouchard and Gabrielle Forget combined to stop 28-of-36 shots in a losing cause.
The Montreal-McGill overall series is tied at 4-4 this season, with the Martlets taking three-of-five duels in conference play. But the Carabins won the best-of-three RSEQ final in three matches.
St. Thomas and Moncton will compete for fifth place on Sunday while the University of Saskatchewan Huskies and Wilfred Laurier Golden Hawks will meet for bronze.