The Varsity Blues men’s hockey season came to an end as they fell to the McGill Redmen, 6-3, in game two of OUA quarter-final action on Saturday, February 28 at Varsity Arena.

With the win, the Redmen will advance to the OUA semi-final against the winner of the UQTR Patriotes and Carleton Ravens.

First-year Redmen forward Andrew Wright (Toronto) opened the scoring 3:42 into the first period as he sent a fluttering puck into the top corner of the net.

McGill scored again nine minutes later when a wide-open Guillaume Doucet (Montreal, Que.) caught Blues goaltender Russ Brownell (Oakville, Ont.) off guard to put the Redmen up by two.

The Blues picked up the pace and got on the board with 5:28 to go in the first frame. First-year forward Claudio Cowdrey (Mississauga, Ont.) sent a wide shot at McGill goaltender Kevin Desfosses (Beauport, Que.) and Byron Elliott (Burlington, Ont.) was there to bury the rebound.

McGill was up 2-1 after the first period of play.

The Redmen continued to dominate in the second, scoring one even-strength marker and two powerplay goals.

Two minutes into the second, Picard-Hooper won a clean faceoff draw for the Redmen, sending the puck straight into the Blues net. Eric L’Italien (Ste. Foy, Que.) added McGill’s fourth goal, tipping a Yan Turcotte (Laval, Que.) shot into the net and Picard-Hooper tallied his second goal of the game to build a four-goal lead.

Toronto finally responded with 22 seconds remaining in the period as Sean Fontyn (Mississauga, Ont.) scored his third goal of the season.

The Redmen held a 5-2 lead going into the final frame.

The Blues came out on fire and notched another one 2:22 into the third period when Cowdrey tipped a Sean Kliewer (Bunkild, Man.) shot past Defousse.

Despite some good scoring chances and powerplay opportunities, the Blues could not complete their comeback attempt. With an empty net goal, McGill came away with a 6-3 win and a 2-0 series victory.