The York Lions men’s hockey team will continue the popular Subway Series promotion this weekend when they battle the Ryerson Rams at the Mattamy Athletic Centre.
The Lions will travel downtown to face the Rams in a rare matinee game on Saturday, Jan. 19. Puck drop between the Toronto rivals is at 2:15 p.m. This Subway Series matchup is a rematch of the inaugural Subway Series game last season, which saw the Lions defeat the Rams 3-2 in front of more than 400 visiting Lions fans.
The Lions will have payback on their minds when they face the Rams this time around, as Ryerson took the first leg of their season series by a lopsided 8-3 score back in November. In that game, Lions forward Stefano Pezzetta scored a goal eight minutes into the third period to tie the score at 3-3, but it was all Rams from there as they racked up five goals in the last 12 minutes to earn an emphatic road victory. The two teams also met in the second round of the playoffs last season, with the Lions winning in two straight games by scores of 6-3 and 3-2 respectively.
After a red-hot start to the year that saw them jump out to a 9-2-1 record in their first 12 games, the Lions have stumbled lately dropping seven of their past nine games. They lost five games in a row before the holiday break, but look to be snapping out of their mid-season funk with two wins in four games so far in 2019. They’ve played well in their two losses since the break, falling 4-3 to the first-place Brock Badgers and losing 2-1 on a late goal to the third-place Western Mustangs. The Lions sit in fourth place in the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) West standings with an 11-7-2 record on the season.
Led by a powerful offence that has scored the most goals in the OUA, the Rams also began the season on a hot streak, winning 12 of their first 14 games. They were ranked as high as fourth overall in the country at one point, but a recent four-game losing streak has seen the Rams fall out of the top 10 as they were an honourable mention in the most recent national rankings. The Rams find themselves in second place in the OUA West after 20 games with a 14-5-1 record, five points ahead of the Lions.
The all-Toronto matchup figures to be a high-scoring, action-packed affair, which features the two highest scoring teams in the OUA West. The Lions offence is led by captain Scott Feser and fifth-year forward Reid Jackman, who each have 21 points on the season, followed by Josh LaFrance with 20 points. Ryerson counters with two of the top three scorers in the OUA in Matt Mistele (41 points) and Mathew Santos (33 points), who sit first and third overall, respectively, in league scoring.
Admission for York students is free and all attendees will receive free food, a promotional gift and TTC tokens. Students must sign up at yorkulions.ca/subwayseries before 6 a.m. on Saturday, Jan. 19 to attend.