The York University Lions men’s hockey team hosted Game 3 of the first round of Ontario University Athletics (OUA) playoffs against the Lakehead University Thunderwolves Sunday night and pulled out all the stops for a big home ice win by a score of 5-1 at Canlan Ice Sports.
The Lions started the game off incredibly strong, scoring two goals in the first four minutes of the opening period. Less than two minutes into the first, Ben Verrall scored with the assistance of Daniel Nikandrov and Nik Coric. Exactly two minutes later, Morgan Messenger added his second goal of the series with help from teammates Trevor Petersen and Kyle Campbell.
As a result of their efforts, the Lions took an early 2-0 lead over their opponents. More details on the York Lions website.
The series got to Game 3 after York and Lakehead split the first two contests earlier in the week. In the opener, the Thunderwolves won 3-2 in triple overtime on home ice in Thunder Bay, Ont. After twice coming back from a goal down in the game, the Thunderwolves finally ended it in the middle of the third overtime period on a goal by Dylan Butler.
The 50:07 of overtime was the third-longest U SPORTS men's hockey game in history and second overall in the OUA. The game time was just six seconds shorter than the OUA's longest game, ironically another Lakehead-York match-up on Feb. 14, 2007 that ended with the same winner and by the same score. The record for the longest U SPORTS game belongs to UNB and Acadia, also by a 3-2 score in 61:03 total extra time. More details.
Needing a win on home ice in Game 2 to extend the series, the Lions pulled through with a 4-2 victory. The Lions battled hard in the first period and their efforts paid off 14 minutes in when Messenger was able to score, giving the Lions a 1-0 lead. He was assisted by Colton Vannucci and Justin Bean.
This excitement was short-lived, however, as the Thunderwolves’ Scott Gall scored unassisted just two minutes later, tying the score 1-1. The score remained this way for the rest of the period. More details.
Women’s hockey Lions wrap up season with second straight 3-1 victory
The York University Lions women’s hockey wrapped up the 2017-18 campaign on Saturday afternoon with a 3-1 victory over the Brock University Badgers at Seymour-Hannah Centre in St. Catharines, Ont.
It was the hometown Badgers who opened the scoring as Amanda Ieradi found the back of the net just seven minutes into the first period for a 1-0 lead. Near the end of the frame the Lions levelled the score thanks to Erin Locke, who tallied on the power play at 16:38. The score remained tied at 1-1 heading into the first intermission. More details.
Earlier in the weekend, the Lions ended the home portion of their schedule with a 3-1 victory over the University of Toronto Varsity Blues. Christina Chin scored the lone goal of the first period at 14:54 to give the Lions a 1-0 lead after one. The second period played out in a similar fashion, with the Lions once again scoring the only tally of the game, this one courtesy of Chelsea Tucker that made the sore 2-0. More details.
Women’s basketball Lions finish fifth in OUA East after loss to Gee-Gees
The York University Lions women’s basketball team was defeated by a score of 65-55 by the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees in the regular-season finale for both teams in Ottawa on Saturday night.
The Lions finished with an 11-12 record and in fifth place in the OUA East standings thanks to holding the tiebreaker over the Toronto Varsity Blues, who also ended up at 11-12.
The Lions slipped away from the Gee-Gees early in the first quarter and were forced to play catch-up for the remainder of the game. The Lions eventually came within a point of their opponents at the end of the first, which ended 19-18. More details.
Also in the nation’s capital, the Lions flirted with an upset before falling to the No. 1 nationally ranked and undefeated Carleton University Ravens by a score of 54-45. The Lions held the lead at 45-44 with just over four minutes remaining in the game, but the talented Ravens put together a run to close out the final frame and maintain their perfect season. More details.
Women’s volleyball Lions stay in playoff hunt with straight-sets sweep of Lakers
The York University Lions women’s volleyball team needed a victory over the Nipissing University Lakers to stay in the playoff hunt in the OUA East Division and they got it done, winning in straight sets in their Friday night contest at the Tait McKenzie Centre.
The victory moved the Lions into a tie with the Lakers in the OUA East standings with matching 8-9 records, but the Lions hold the tiebreaker thanks to their two head-to-head wins this season.
The first set was a nail-biter and it was actually the Lakers who maintained a three-point lead down the stretch. The Lions narrowed the gap but the Lakers got to set point first with a 24-23 point advantage. However, kills by Kayla Clennon and Rachel Adams changed the momentum and gave the Lions a set-point of their own, and they capitalized on the next point after an attack error by Nipissing to take the first set 26-24. More details.
On Sunday afternoon, the Lions were defeated in four sets by the Trent University Excalibur in their last road match of the season. The first set made the match look promising for the Lions when they won the set 25-20 to take a 1-0 lead overall, but things took a turn in the second set when the Excalibur won 25-21 to tie the match score 1-1. More details.
Men’s volleyball Lions back into win column with 3-1 win over Excalibur
The York University Lions men’s volleyball team paid a visit to the Trent University Excalibur on Sunday afternoon in the Lions' second last game of the regular season and broke their two-game losing streak with a 3-1 victory.
The first set was a closely fought battle that had to go past match point to determine the winner. It was ultimately the Excalibur who came out on top with a 28-26 victory to take an early lead in the match with a score of 1-0. More details.
On Friday night, the Lions lost in straight sets to the visiting Nipissing University Lakers at home. Playing without their leading scorer and, arguably, the best setter in OUA, the Lions were not able to generate enough offence to take down the Lakers, who are in a battle for one of the last two playoff spots in the OUA East Division.
The Lakers won all three sets in convincing fashion, taking the first 25-20, the second 25-18 and the third 25-15. More details.
Men’s basketball Lions end season with loss to Gee-Gees on the road
The York University Lions men’s basketball team played its final game of the season on Saturday night in the nation's capital and was defeated 82-54 by the No. 10 nationally ranked University of Ottawa Gee-Gees.
The Gee-Gees consistently outscored the Lions in each quarter. The Lions quickly fell behind in the first quarter, only scoring half of what the Gee-Gees put in as the quarter ended 24-12. This big deficit proved to be too difficult to bounce back from, as the Lions trailed the remainder of the game. More details.
The Lions also lost to the No. 1 and undefeated Carleton University Ravens 87-57 as part of their weekend schedule. The first quarter was a tight affair in which the Ravens led by just five after 10 minutes of play. But they turned it on in the second quarter, outscoring the Lions 24-8 to take an insurmountable 44-23 lead at the half. More details.
Track and field Lions take advantage of last chance meets and post big results
The York University Lions track and field team participated in their last chance meets at the University of Toronto and University of Guelph this past weekend. These were the athletes’ final opportunities to improve their individual and team rankings before the OUA championships next weekend.
At U of T Friday night, the Lions recorded many impressive finishes. The Lions swept the podium in the women's 60m dash, with Monique Simon-Tucker, Georgia Campbell and Diana Boa finishing first through third, respectively. This podium sweep was almost repeated in the men's 60m dash, where Quinn Charles and Sodiq Ibrahim finished first and third, respectively.
The Lions saw more success in the men's 300m, where Daniele Orsini won the event and Zeon Bass finished third, while Heniesha Christie finished third in the 60m hurdles with a season's best performance of 9.37 seconds. More details.