Verreault-Paul completes three-goal haul, just in the nick of time

TORONTO - Francis Verreault-Paul of Mashteuiatsh, Que., netted a hat-trick, including the game-winner with 11 seconds remaining in the final period as the No.2-ranked McGill Redmen escaped with a 4-3 road victory at Ryerson in men's university hockey at George Bell Arena, Sunday.

It was McGill's sixth straight win over the Rams and the 19th conquest in their last 20 head-to-head meetings as McGill improved their lifetime record against Ryerson to 38-6-1.

The Rams rallied from a 3-1 deficit to tie the score at 3-3 when they pulled netminder Troy Passingham with a minute to go and just five seconds later, Andrew Buck connected with his second marker of the game.

Ryerson almost put another scare into McGill when they won a face-off in the Redmen zone with three seconds left after an icing call. Rams defenceman Brian Birkhoff fired the puck into the net at the buzzer but the officials ruled that time had expired.

"We can't focus on the things out of our control," said Rams head coach Graham Wise to the media when asked about the disallowed goal. "It's frustrating right now, but what we can focus on is the fact that we're a very good hockey team and we just went step for step with the number two-ranked team in Canada."

Verreault-Paul, a science senior majoring in psychology, has 105 career goals in 134 games overall for McGill. He is only the fifth player in school history to reach the century mark and needs 32 more to break the team record set by Tim Iannone from 1986 to 1990.

"Frank is playing with a lot of confidence after a slow start to the season," said McGill head coach Kelly Nobes of his red-hot all-Canadian sniper, who has struck for 11 goals in his last six games, moving into third-place among CIS goal leaders despite missing four games with an injury. "He was moving his feet well and is in a real good rhythm right now."

Verreault-Paul, a 5-foot-10, 180-pound forward, opened the scoring on the power-play, midway through the first period but seven seconds later, defenceman Scott Brown tied the score at 1-1. It took Verreault-Paul only 19 seconds to regain the lead for the Redmen and when Benoit Levesque, a sophomore from Vaudreuil, Que., made it 3-1 at 12:56, it appeared that the rout was on.

McGill had a 40-34 edge in shots, including a 20-7 margin in the first period but were stymied on a number of chances by Passingham in the Rams net. Freshman goalie Mark Segal, who started with the WHL's Vancouver Giants last year, made 31 saves for McGill, improving his record to 6-1.

Buck narrowed the gap to 3-2 with a power-play goal at 4:48 of the middle stanza and gave the Rams some short-lived hope with his fifth of the season in the final minute of play.

"We had a real good opening period but their goalie came up big and they're a much-improved team that really challenged us over the last two periods," said Nobes, whose troops appeared a bit road wearing in the last period and were playing 16 hours after a 4-1 win over Nipissing in North Bay, Ont., the previous night.

Ryerson went 1-for-2 on the power play, while McGill was 1-for-4 with the man advantage.

The Rams fell to 6-6-2 and will play at York and UOIT next week in their final games before the exam break.

McGill's victory moved the Redmen into sole possession of first place atop the OUA East Division standings, two points ahead of UQTR, with a 12-1-2 record. The Redmen close out their semester with a rare morning game - against RMC at the Verdun Auditorium - on Dec. 2. The Friday affair is a virtual sell-out as the English school board of greater Montreal has purchased 3,700 tickets. The event is slated for a 10:30 a.m. start as part of a "Stay in School" promotion.

SOURCE:

Earl Zukerman
McGill Athletics & Recreation
514-398-7012

SCORING SUMMARY

McGill 4 at Ryerson 3

(Sunday, November 27, 2011 - George Bell Arena)

GOALS BY PERIOD:
McGill 3-0-1 -- 4
Ryerson 1-1-1 -- 3

1st Period-
1, McGill, Francis Verreault-Paul 9 (Andrew Wright), 10:48 (PP).
2, Ryerson, Scott Brown 1 (Jesse Chidwick), 10:55.
3, McGill, Francis Verreault-Paul 10 (Christophe Longpre-Poirier, Nicolas Biniek), 11:14.
4, McGill, Benoit Levesque 4 (unassisted)   12:56.

Penalties-
Alcock Rye (cross checking), 8:58.


2nd Period-
5, Ryerson, Andrew Buck 4 (Brian Birkhoff, David Grant), 4:48 (PP).

Penalties-
Alcock Rye (hooking), 1:21;
Payne Rye (hooking), 1:47;
Wright Mcg (cross checking), 3:24;
Chidwick Rye (hooking), 6:54;
Boisvert Mcg (roughing), 18:35;
Corbett Rye (roughing), 18:35.


3rd Period-
6, Ryerson, Andrew Buck 5 (Greg Payne, David Grant), 19:05.
7, McGill, Francis Verreault-Paul 11 (Marc-Olivier Vachon), 19:49.

Penalties-
Boisvert Mcg (boarding), 11:09.


Shots on Goal-
McGill 20-13-7 -- 40.
Ryerson 7-14-13 -- 34.

Power Play Opportunities-
McGill 1 / 4;
Ryerson 1 / 2.

Penalties (No/Mins):
McGill 3 / 6;
Ryerson 5 / 10.

Goalies-
McGill, Mark Segal (W, 6-1-0, 34 shots-31 saves; 60:00).
Ryerson, Troy Passingham (L, 5-8-0, 40 shots-36 saves; 59:44).


Attendance-150

Referee- na.

Start: 2:03

Finish: 4:19

Length: 2:16


MOLSON CUP THREE STARS:
1. Francis Verreault-Paul, McGill
2. Andrew Buck, Ryerson
3. Troy Passingham, Ryerson