Two McGillians named Quebec university athletes of the week

MONTREAL  -  The Quebec Student Sports Federation has named a pair of McGill hockey players --  Francis Verreault-Paul of Mashteuiatsh, Que., and Vanessa Davidson of Kirkland, Que., -- as the De Facto Quebec university athletes of the week for the period ending, Dec. 6, 2009.

Verreault-Paul, a 5-foot-10,178-pound right winger with the hockey Redmen, scored seven points in a pair of road victories at Toronto last week. The 22-year-old science sophomore, who is majoring in both psychology and kinesiology, netted a hat-trick including the game-winner and added one assist in a 7-0 win at Ryerson on Friday. He the added a goal and two helpers in an 8-5 win at Ryerson, Saturday. Verreault-Paul leads the league in goals with 15, including five game-winners, and ranks third in the OUA scoring race with 28 points in only 13 games. He attended College de Chicoutimi prior to joining the Redmen last fall.

Davidson, 25, who captains the women's hockey team, scored points on each goal as the visiting Martlets blanked Concordia 3-0 last Saturday. The results allowed McGill to tie the CIS record with their 67th consecutive victory against Canadian university opponents. Davidson, a fifth-year physical education major, assisted on the game-winning shorthanded goal in the first period, then scored an insurance goal early in the third period and set up the final marker with just over six minutes remaining.  She leads the Quebec conference scoring race with an 8-12-20 record in 10 contests. Davidson attended John Abbott College before enrolling at McGill in 2005.

McGill athletes have now been selected six times for the QSSF weekly award, split evenly among men and women. The 2009-10 honourees from McGill include:

Sept. 29  Alexandra Morin-Boucher (soccer)

Oct. 6      Mélissa Coré (golf)

Oct. 13    Simon Marcotte-Légaré (hockey)

Dec. 1     Francis Verreault-Paul (hockey)

Dec. 8     Francis Verreault-Paul (hockey)

Dec. 8     Vanessa Davidson (hockey)