The York University Lions women’s hockey team ended the 2017 portion of their schedule with a big 4-0 shutout victory over the Laurentian University Voyageurs at Canlan Ice Sports on Sunday afternoon.
The Lions spent a lot of time in front on the Voyageurs’ net in the first period, but couldn’t find a way to get the puck past goaltender Karen Collins. Luckily, the Voyageurs had an equally hard time scoring. The first period remained scoreless.
The first goal of the game came from Kelsey McHolm in the middle of the second period on a power play. Despite many other close chances, this was the only goal in the second period, and the Lions led 1-0 heading into the home stretch of the game. More details on the York Lions website.
One day earlier, the Lions suffered a 4-2 defeat to the reigning Ontario University Athletics (OUA) finalist Nipissing University Lakers. The game began with a flurry of activity as four goals were scored in the first nine minutes of play.
The Lions got on the board first just 2:56 into the game when Steffei Samuel found the back of the net, with assists to Cynthia St-Cyr and Ellen Donaldson. Eight seconds later, the game was tied as Nipissing’s Jetta Derenoski scored to make it 1-1. More details.
Men’s volleyball Lions tied for division lead after win over Excalibur
The York University Lions men’s volleyball team heads into the December break tied for the OUA East Division lead after Sunday’s straight-sets victory over the Trent University Excalibur at the Tait McKenzie Centre.
The Lions have now won three in a row and finished each set at least five points ahead of their opponents.
The Lions wasted no time reminding the Excalibur whose court they were on. The Lions had a massive 16-4 lead at the technical time out and they maintained this over-10 point lead through to the end of the set, finishing 25-13 and taking an early 1-0 lead in the match. More details.
Women’s volleyball Lions extend win streak to three with five-set win over Trent
The York University Lions women’s volleyball team took on Trent University Excalibur in their final regular-season match of the fall term Sunday afternoon. Heading into the afternoon's match, the Lions were on a two-game winning streak and they extended it to three following their 3-2 win.
The Lions started the first set incredibly strong, racing ahead to an early lead while the Excalibur struggled to keep up. At the technical timeout, they were leading 16-10 and they maintained the intensity of their playing and had a huge win in the first set, finishing 25-16 over the Excalibur. More details.
Men’s hockey Lions get back on track with shootout win over Ravens
The York University Lions men’s hockey team took on the Carleton University Ravens on Friday in the first game of their two-game road series in Ottawa. The Lions won 3-2 in the shootout, boosting their regular season wins into double-digits.
The Ravens took the lead early in the first period, scoring twice. Their goals came from Evan de Haan and Travis Douglas. Josh LaFrance was able to break through and score the Lions’ first goal on a power play in the last four minutes on the period. The period ended with the Ravens leading 2-1. More details.
The next night, the Lions erased a three-goal deficit but ultimately lost in a shootout by a score of 4-3 to the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees. The Gee-Gees built a big three-goal lead only five minutes into the second period. Medric Mercier opened the scoring at 7:30 of the first period with a power play goal, and Brendan Jacome and Eric Locke added tallies at 2:56 and 4:25 of the second, respectively to give the home fans something to cheer about.
The Lions started chipping away at the deficit later that period and were rewarded with their first goal of the game at 8:18 courtesy of rookie Justin Bean, who was the hero on Friday night with the tying goal only 45 seconds before the final whistle. More details.
Lancers come back in fourth to take down men’s basketball Lions
The York University Lions men’s basketball team played a tight game against the University of Windsor Lancers on Saturday night, ultimately falling by four points in a 65-61 loss to the visitors at the Tait McKenzie Centre.
The Lions raced out to a 20-12 lead after the first quarter of play, but the Lancers returned the favour in the second, outscoring the Lions 20-16 to cut the deficit to just four. The Lions led 36-32 at the half. The third quarter was a much tighter affair in which the Lancers again cut into the Lions' lead, winning the frame 15-13 to make the score 49-47 in favour of the Lions heading into the final quarter. More details.
On Friday night, the Lions played a closely fought battle with the Western University Mustangs that ended 70-63 in favour of the visiting squad.
The Lions had a wide lead early on, at 20-13 over the Mustangs at the end of the first quarter. The Lions were able to maintain this lead well into the second quarter before the Mustangs caught up with less than two minutes left on the clock. The second quarter wrapped up with the Lions narrowly leading 34-33. More details.
Women’s basketball Lions fall to No. 5 Lancers in final home game of 2017
The York University Lions women’s basketball team was defeated by a score of 88-69 by the No. 5 nationally ranked University of Windsor Lancers at the Tait McKenzie Centre on Saturday night.
The high-scoring Lancers raced out to a 24-15 lead after the first quarter, but the Lions bounced back in the second to cut the deficit to just four, trailing 35-31 at the half. However, the Lancers came right back after the break with another big quarter, outscoring the Lions by 11 points to stretch their advantage again. More details.
On Friday night, the Lions had their three-game winning streak snapped by the Western University Mustangs by a score of 73-67. The Lions got off to an early lead thanks to points from Katrina Collins-Samuels, Lauren Golding and Lindsay Shotbolt, putting them up to a seven-point lead before the Mustangs sank their first basket of the game. This lead was short lived, and the first quarter quickly turned into a neck-in-neck battle. The Lions had a small lead at the end of the quarter at 15-14. More details.