VANCOUVER - The Montreal Carabins are national champions for the second time in four seasons, after they scored four powerplay goals en route to an 8-0 win over the UBC Thunderbirds in the 2016 CIS Women's Hockey championship finals on Sunday afternoon.
 
Rookie forward Alexandra Labelle had a hattrick and an assist for the Carabins, while sophomore winger Emmanuelle Pssard added a goal and two assists, and defender Jessica Cormier notched four apples.

"Full credit to Montreal. They took advantage of some early opportunities on the powerplay, and skated miles," said Graham Thomas. "They deserved the win today."
 
UBC goaltender Danielle Dube (New Westminster, B.C.) allowed five goals on 10 shots in two periods of work, replaced by Samantha Langford (Pense, Sask.) in the final frame. Winger Kathleen Cahoon (Calgary) was named UBC's Player of the Game, while defender Kelly Murray (Medicine Hat, Alta.) was named to the Championship All-Star Team.
 
On an early man advantage, the Carabins drew first blood. Cormier walked the line, firing a quick shot into a crowded slot area. Passard appeared to get a touch on the puck as it passed, deflecting it straight to the rookie Labelle, who potted it into the empty cage.
 
Alexandra Paradis then added another Montreal goal just over five minutes later, on another powerplay, as the defender took a pass from Cormier and let go of a wrister that found its way through traffic and through Dube's five-hole.
 
The T-Birds' best chance of the frame came on a late powerplay of their own, with a Murray slapper handcuffing Chabot, though the Carabins cleared the ensuing puck.
 
Eight minutes into the second period, Passard made it 3-0. On another power play, the forward found a soft spot in the slot, and all alone, took a quick pass from Labelle and one-timed it past Dube.
 
The Carabins tacked on two more goals in the later stages of the second frame, with Maude Gelinas and Labelle making it 5-0.
 
The 'Birds showed some heart in the final stanza, as they continued to press even with the game's outcome nearly set in stone.
 
Labelle capped off her hat-trick with eight minutes remaining in the contest, going coast-to-coast on a beautiful individual effort and potting a quick shot by Langford.
 
The Carabins added another pair of goals in the final five minutes of the game to round out the scoring.
 
Despite the end result, the CIS silver medal is the highest-ever finish in UBC's women's hockey program's history.
 
And for UBC head coach Graham Thomas, what his squad has accomplished in this past season made it a year to look back on with pride.
 
"As a coaching staff, we couldn't be more proud of what these girls accomplished," said Thomas. "They battled through an incredibly tough Canada West conference and won their, then coming onto the national stage, they beat McGill, who was ranked third in the country coming in, and Guelph, who was the No. 1 seed. More than that, it's been a pleasure to come in and go to work with these girls everyday."
 
With seniors like Rebecca Unrau (Humboldt, Sask.), Cailey Hay (Oakbank, Man.), Langford, Dube, and Laura Taylor (Kelowna, B.C.) set to graduate, the 'Birds will be in tough to repeat as Canada West champions and return to the national tournament.
 
However, Thomas believes that, and more, is well within his team's grasp for the 2016-17 season.
 
"The challenge is now going to be to stay at the top and continue to pull away, and, while we have some key seniors leaving us, we also some young players ready to step up and become the impact players that we need."
 
Thomas apoke plainly when it came to the goal for his program going forward.

"I think we want to bring a national championship to UBC," remarked Thomas. "We've been to the tournament twice now, and after today, we know the level of play we have to bring to take that next step. We want to win it all."