Martlets fall to Italian national team in pre-Olympic exhibition hockey tilt

MONTREAL — The Italian national team scored seven unanswered goals and shut out McGill 7–0 in a women's hockey exhibition Thursday night at McConnell Arena.

It marked McGill's first game against a national team in any sport since an identical  7–0 victory over the Canadian men's Olympic hockey squad on Dec. 13, 1947, two months prior to the 1948 Games in St. Moritz, Switzerland.

Italy, preparing for next month's Winter Olympics in Cortina, improved to 5-0-1 since opening its pre-Olympic camp in Montreal last November, a run that includes a 7–0 win over the Montréal Carabins and a 10–0 decision against Concordia.

Italy held a 39–10 edge in shots and led 1–0 after the first period before stretching the margin to 3–0 through two. Kristin Della Rovere scored twice, while Justine Reyes, Matilde Fantin, Franziska Stocker, Marta Mazzocchi and Sara Kaneppele added single goals.

The Azzurri went 0-for-1 on the power play, while McGill finished 0-for-3 with the extra skater. Winning goaltender Martina Fedel went the distance for Italy and posted a 10-save shutout.

Jade Rivard-Coulombe started for McGill and took the loss, stopping 11 of 13 shots before being replaced at the 10:48 mark of the second period. Megane Pilon played the remainder of the game and turned aside 21 of 26 shots. The result dropped the Martlets to 3-10-5 overall in their first game in more than a month.

Italy was coached by McGill hockey graduate Alexandre Tremblay, who was wearing a McGill navy blue necktie and filled in as bench boss since head coach Eric Bouchard was unavailable due to a scheduling conflict with his QMJHL's Shawinigan Cataractes. Former McGill netminder Karel Saint-Laurent served as Italy's goaltending coach, while ex-Martlets associate coach Kayla Tutino returned to her playing career two years ago and recorded two assists on the game's first two goals.

Italy continues its series against RSEQ teams Friday against the Montréal Carabins and Sunday versus the Bishop's Gaiters. McGill has a week off before beginning a home-and-home series with Concordia, starting Jan. 16 at Ed Meagher Arena and concluding Jan. 18 at McConnell Arena.

NOTES: Three members of the Italian consulate in Montreal attended the game, including Anna Colarusso (president of the COMITES), Fortunato Mangiola (Italian trade consul) and Enrico Pavone (general consul).