Zain Rashid | Staff Writer
Featured Image: The Lions celebrate after scoring one of their seven goals this passed weekend. | Courtesy of YorkU Lions
This week proved to be successful for the York Lions hockey teams, as they won three out of their four games.
The women beat Waterloo and Laurier comfortably, while the men won their first game against Guelph. Unfortunately, however, the men lost their second game to the Western Mustangs.
The men took on the Gryphons on the road on Thursday, in what resulted in a thrilling, 4-3 victory for York.
Cody Thompson drew first blood for the Gryphons, scoring in the opening minutes of the game to give Guelph a 1-0 lead. York, however, responded towards the end of the first period, as Scott Feser scored a short-handed goal to level the score at 1-1.
In the second, the Lions offense came to life, dominating the period from start to finish, finding the back of the net twice. The first goal came in the 9th minute as Reid Jackman, assisted by Daniel Nikandrov, managed to slip one by the Guelph goalie. The second goal came courtesy of Ben Verrall two minutes later, giving the Lions a two-goal lead going into the second intermission.
The game wasn’t over yet though, as Guelph made an incredible comeback in the third period to level the score at 3-3. After a scoreless overtime, York’s Josh LaFrance scored the game-winner in a shootout, as the Lions escaped with the W.
The game saw an incredible 46 saves from York goalie Mack Shields, bringing his goals-against average to 2.66 for the season.
The men’s second game of the weekend was in London against the ‘Stangs. Unfortunately, they fell to Western in a 2-1 heartbreaker.
The game got off to a slow start, as neither team was able to muster any chances early in the opening frame. The first goal came in the 18th minute as the ‘Stang’s Spencer Cobbold was able to get past York’s Shields.
York responded just before the end of the first period as Jeremy Lucchini scored the equalizer, assisted by Stefano Pezzetta, to even the score at 1-1.
The second period featured several attempts from both sides, but neither team was able to break the stalemate.
The final goal of the game came in the third period, courtesy of Western’s Cordell James on the penalty-kill, to give Western a 2-1 victory.
The women were also on the road this weekend. On Friday, they were in Waterloo taking on the Warriors.
After several chances, York scored the first two goals of the game in quick succession as Caroline Eagles found the back of the net in the 13th minute and Erin Locke tickled the twine a minute later. In the second, the Warriors finally responded with a little over five minutes to go in the period, courtesy of Emma Pye.
York responded fast, reasserting their dominance as Kelsey McHolm and Chelsea Tucker scored in the 17th and 18th minutes respectively. Neither team was able to score in the third period, despite attempts from both sides, and the game ended in a 4-1 victory for the Lions.
York goalie Lauren Dubie proved to be the decisive factor as she made an extraordinary 27 saves in the win.
The women played their second game of the week against Laurier Golden Hawks, in another laugher for the Lions.
York took a penalty early in the game and Laurier took advantage of the opportunity, drawing first blood on the power-play less than a minute into the game.
For the remainder of the first period and the entire second period, the Lions tried to even things up, but they couldn’t beat the Hawks goalie.
However, York’s offence found their stride in the third, as Taylor Murphy levelled the score in the 4th minute. Erin Locke followed with two goals in the 9th and 13th minute to stage a spectacular comeback, winning the game 3-1.
The women’s next games are today in Guelph against the Gryphons at 7:30 p.m., and on Friday in Waterloo against Laurier at 7 p.m. The men will host Western at home on Friday at 7 p.m., and then go across town on Saturday to take on Ryerson at 2:15 p.m.
