The University of Quebec-Trois Rivieres Patriotes won their fifth Canadian University Men’s Hockey Championship in the history of their school on Sunday. In the gold medal game of the 2022 University Cup from Wolfville, Nova Scotia, the Patriotes defeated the University of Alberta Golden Bears 5-4 in double overtime on a game-winning goal by Simon Lafrance of St-Eustache, Quebec.
It was a magical game for Lafrance. He not only scored the game-winning goal with an unassisted marker at 14:18 of double overtime, but scored the game-tying goal as well. That came on a goal from Mathieu Boucher of Malartic, Quebec, and Loik Leveille of St-Jerome, Quebec.
Lafrance also led the Patriotes in scoring with three points, as he had two goals and one assist. Other Patriotes players with a multi-point game were Leveille (one goal and one assist), Jordan Martel of Chicoutimi, Quebec (one goal and one assist), and Felix Lauzon of Roxton Pond, Quebec. During the 2022 Canadian University Men’s Hockey Championship tournament, the Patriotes defeated the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds 2-1 in the quarterfinals, and the Ryerson Rams 7-2 in the semifinals.
The Patriotes’s prior University Cup wins came in 1987, when they beat the University of Saskatchewan Huskies in the final in Edmonton, Alberta, in 1991, when they beat the Golden Bears 7-2 in the final in Toronto, Ontario, in 2001, when they beat the St. Francis Xavier XMen 5-4 in the final from Waterloo, Ontario, and in 2003, when they beat the XMen 3-0 in the final from Fredericton, New Brunswick.
In other Quebec hockey news, Eve Gascon of Laval, Quebec became the first female goalie in 22 years to win a game at the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League level. Gascon made 23 saves in a 7-3 Gatineau win over Drummondville. The last female goalie to win a game at the QMJHL level was Canadian Olympic gold medalist Charlie Labonte of Greenfield Park, Quebec, who won four games for the Acadie-Bathurst Titan during the 1999-2000 season. Labonte won a gold medal for Canada at the 2006 Olympic Winter Games in Turin, the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver, and the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi.
