The York University Lions men’s track and field team won the McGill Team Challenge by two points over the University of Guelph Gryphons in Montreal this past weekend, while the women finished in sixth place.
The Lions men’s team ended the meet with 104 points, just eclipsing the 102 points that the Gryphons put up. The women finished with 53 points, one behind the fifth-place team from Sherbrooke. The University of Toronto Varsity Blues won with 103.5 points.
The men won six medals at the meet and had 21 top-10 finishes.
Leading the way was Bismark Boateng, who captured individual gold and silver medals and added a third in the relay. More details on the York Lions website.
Maraschiello stands tall as men’s hockey Lions shut out Mustangs
Back-up goal tender Mitch Maraschiello made the most of his start on Friday as he held the Western University Mustangs off the scoreboard in a 1-0 win for the York University Lions men’s hockey team at Canlan Ice Sports.
The Lions came into the game 17 points behind the Mustangs in the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) West standings and were facing a Western team that had the division’s best defence and second-best offence. But the Lions turned the tables and played a strong defensive game, earning the victory and holding the Mustangs scoreless.
The win would not have been achieved without Maraschiello’s spectacular goal tending, as he made 30 saves en route to his first career shut out. More details.
The next day, the Lions fell behind 3-0 to the University of Toronto Varsity Blues but nearly came back, scoring two goals but failing to get the equalizer en route to a 3-2 loss.
With the start of the first, the Blues came out on fire as Jeff Brown scored an early, unassisted goal at 4:22. One minute later, the Blue’s Andrew Doyle and Marcus Yolevski rushed the Lions net, sending the puck soaring to Michael Markovic who planted it in the back of the net at 5:11. With only five minutes into the game, the Blues were already up 2-0. More details.
Women’s volleyball Lions bounce back with sweep of Lakers
The York University Lions women’s volleyball team won its fifth match in its last six outings with a 3-0 victory over the Nipissing University Lakers in a home game at the Tait Mackenzie Centre on Saturday afternoon.
The Lions won the first set 25-22, the second 25-13 and the third 25-17.
In the first set, the Lakers held the lead with an opening kill from Tracy Hammerton. They furthered their lead with five powerful kills from Hammerton, one from Erika Lapierre and another from Christina Caruso for a score of 17-16. The Lions were always right behind the Lakers by one point, and with a big kill from Brittney Hopley, she tied the score at 17-17. More details.
On Friday night, the Lions were defeated in four sets by the defending Ontario University Athletics (OUA) champion McMaster University Marauders. The Marauders won the first two sets 25-20 and 27-25, respectively. The Lions pulled one back at the third set that ended at 25-23. However, the home team took the victory at the fourth set at 25-19. More details.
Culbreath scores 29 as men’s basketball Lions top Varsity Blues
The York University Lions men’s basketball team sealed an emphatic 87-77 victory over the University of Toronto Varsity Blues in a game full of spectacular highlights on Saturday at Tait McKenzie Centre.
Nathan Culbreath opened the scoring for the Lions with a well-taken shot from down town.
The Blues Sage Usher attempted a jump shot but was blocked by Nick Tufegdzich. Tufegdzich followed it up with a steal and a long pass to Culbreath, who made the layup for another basket and drawing a foul in the process. More details.
One night earlier, the Lions were defeated by the Ryerson University Rams by a score of 99-74. The Lions kept the Rams at bay in the first quarter at 21-19. The visitors took the game slightly further by the end of the half at 52-40. But the Rams took over the second half by outscoring the Lions 76-55 at the third quarter and 99-74 at the final frame.
Nidun Chandrakumar scored from down town for the Lions’ first basket. More details.
Lakers take down men’s volleyball Lions in four sets
The York University Lions men’s volleyball team defeated the Nipissing University Lakers 3-1 in a tight home game on Saturday at the Tait McKenzie Centre. The Lions won the first set 25-20, the second 25-16 and the fourth 25-21, while the Lakers won the third 25-23.
Rookie Josh Henderson played an outstanding game, completing a total of 17 kills, one service ace and three blocks for a game-high 21 points. He is third in the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) in total kills (194), sixth in kills per set (3.34) and third in total points (230). More details.
Also this weekend, the Lions were defeated in straight sets by the top-ranked and first-place McMaster University Marauders. It was a tough challenge for the Lions facing the OUA leaders, who have not lost a single match this season. However, the Lions were able to take the first set into a two-point deuce before the Marauders sealed the first set with a 27-25 win. The home team eventually won the match after winning 25-15 for the following two sets. More details.
Wrestling Lions finish fifth at Western Open
The York University Lions men’s wrestling team finished in fifth place at the Western Open meet at Western University in London, Ont., on Saturday.
Greg Pierzchala recorded his second straight podium finish of 2015 with a bronze medal in the 76-kilogram (kg) weight class. In the second round of the main draw, he was defeated 10-0 by Chris Laverick, a member of the Canadian senior national team. But he bounced back to reach the final of the back draw with three straight dominant matches. He defeated McMaster’s Patrick Morrison and Ilya Kreynin of Toronto by the same 10-0 scores, then took out Lakehead’s Cesar Fleurant 4-0 to advance to the final, where he defeated Laverick to finish third. More details.
Blues top women’s basketball Lions in Shoot for the Cure game
The York University Lions women’s basketball team lost 66-45 to the University of Toronto Varsity Blues on Saturday at Tait McKenzie Centre.
The Lions started out strong with three-pointers from Jackie Koudys and Hayley Finn. However, fouls by the home team gave the Blues an advantage. The first quarter ended with the Blues leading by 17-12.
At the second quarter, the Blues forced multiple turnovers extending their lead to 20 points. Jill Stratton beat the buzzer with a hopeful long shot from outside the line to give her team a 13-point lead by half time at 37-24. More details.
Also this weekend, the Lions were defeated 71-26 by the Ryerson University Rams. Dominating the first half, the visiting Rams ended the first quarter with a comfortable lead at 17-6 after one quarter, and by the end of the half the scoreline read 33-17 in favour of the Rams. They continued to cruise in the second half, outscoring the Lions 38-9 to pick up the easy victory. More details.
No. 3 Mustangs take down women’s hockey Lions
The York University Lions women’s hockey team lost 3-0 to the Western University Mustangs on Saturday at Canlan Ice Sports.
Kristen Barbara made the first shot on target four minutes into the game after a good attacking play by the home team. Six minutes later, the Lions found another opportunity to score as the Mustangs scrambled to defend their post. Barbara took another shot on target from a distance, but her attempt bounced off Western goalie Kelly Campbell. More details.
The next afternoon the Lions were defeated by the University of Windsor Lancers by a score of 4-1. The first period began slowly with minimal shots or action, but began to pick up towards the end. The Lancers broke the deadlock three minutes towards the end of the period at 17:46 when Candice Chevalier came rushing the net alone in a counter attack, then slashed the puck over the top right shoulder of Megan Lee. At the end of the first the Lancers led the game 1-0. More details.