The York Lions men’s hockey team is gearing up for its first regular season home game after posting a stellar 2-0 record on the road to begin the year. Meanwhile, the women are coming off a big win in their home debut and will be looking for similar results in a pair of weekend games.
The men’s home opener is scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 16 a 7pm, at Canlan Ice Sports against the Ryerson Rams. The men will then take on the University of Toronto Varsity Blues on Saturday, Oct. 18 at 7pm, while the women are scheduled to face the University of Ontario Institute of Technology Ridgebacks on Saturday, Oct. 18 at 2pm, and the Queen’s Gaels on Sunday, Oct. 19 at 2pm.
Last weekend, the men’s team began its season in stunning fashion thanks to impressive offensive outputs by a number of the team’s rookies. Scott Restoule, Riley Brand, Cassidy Preston and Daniel Torres combined for 10 points in two games en route to a 3-0 victory over the Queen’s Gaels and a 4-2 win against the Royal Military College Paladins. Starting goaltender Carlo Di Rienzo recorded the shutout for the Lions in the first game. The women won their first game of the season by an impressive 3-1 score over the Windsor Lancers. Coming into the game, the Lions were 0-2 while the Lancers were 2-0, but York managed to secure the win with excellent play by all members of the team. Goal scorers for York included Danielle Beach, Mandy Cole and Joanne Becker.
The football team returns home for its final game of the season against the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks on Saturday at 1pm. The squad is still looking for its first win of the year but will be in tough against the Golden Hawks, who are currently in third place in the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) standings with a 5-2 record. Last weekend in Guelph, the Lions fell 48-2 to the Gryphons. Quarterback Brian Fortier completed eight passes for 108 yards, while on defence Adrian Ferenc recorded eight solo tackles and assisted on another three.
The water polo teams are back in action at the Tait McKenzie Centre with games on Saturday. The men’s team will play a morning contest against the McMaster Marauders at 11:45am and then an afternoon game against the Western Mustangs at 4:30pm, while the women will take on McMaster at 10:30am. In their respective home openers this past weekend, the men fell to the University of Toronto Varsity Blues 11-8 while the women lost 18-8 to Toronto. Trevor Whyte led all York men with three goals in the game and Julie Csikos was the women’s leading scorer with four.
The men’s and women’s tennis teams will be in London, Ont. for the OUA championships this weekend. The men’s team is ranked No. 1 and will face the Waterloo Warriors in the first round of the playoffs. The women finished the year ranked No. 3 and will face the host Western Mustangs to open the championship.
The men’s and women’s soccer teams and the field hockey team will all wrap up their regular seasons on the weekend. The soccer squads will be in London, Ont. on Saturday at 1pm and 3:15pm to face the Western Mustangs and then in Windsor on Sunday at 1pm and 3:15pm for a battle with the Lancers. The field hockey team will play its final two games of the regular season against the Western Mustangs on Saturday at 3:15pm and against the Waterloo Warriors on Sunday at 1:15pm. All three York teams are poised to make the playoffs.
Submitted to YFile by Alyson Grant, sport & recreation information officer