Above: York coach Ross MacDonald in a strategy session with members of the Lions women’s water polo team |
The York Lions women’s water polo team will face the Carleton Ravens in the semifinals at the Ontario University Athletics Championship this Saturday at McMaster University. The Lions finished the regular season in third place with a record of 3-5, while the Ravens were second with a 6-2 record. The teams met twice during the regular season with Carleton winning both matches, 9-3 and 8-7. Defending champion McMaster will play the University of Toronto in the other semifinal.
The women’s volleyball team defeated Ryerson 3-0 on Wednesday in its only match last week. Elizabeth Salas-Chavez, Andrea Leyte and Nicole Carleton-Burnham paced the Lions with 10 kills each.
The men’s volleyball team lost 3-0 to first place Ryerson on Wednesday but rebounded with a 3-2 victory over McMaster on Saturday. Ryan Anderson led the Lions with 16 kills against McMaster, while Paul Podstawka added 14 kills. The men’s and women’s volleyball teams will host Queen’s on Saturday and RMC on Sunday at the Tait McKenzie Centre. The women’s game is scheduled for 2pm both days, with the men’s following at 4pm.
The men’s and women’s basketball teams split weekend games against McMaster and Lakehead. On Friday, the women’s team dropped a 50-48 decision to McMaster. The leading scorer for the Lions was Laura MacCallum, who recorded 15 points, two assists, and two rebounds. Elspeth Cheng pitched in with 10 points and five boards. The Lions defeated Lakehead 61-55 on Saturday. Sarah Brodie led the Lions with a game_high 16 points, while connecting on 7-of-12 field goals. She also recorded six rebounds, five blocks and two assists. MacCallum added 13 points, six rebounds, two assists and two steals in the York win.
The men’s basketball team lost 92-85 to McMaster on Friday, before rebounding to defeat Lakehead 83-67 on Saturday. Dan Eves recorded a game-high 29 points to go along with eight rebounds against McMaster. Tut Ruach chipped in with 18 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Eves scored a team-high 28 points in Saturday’s win over Lakehead, while adding six rebounds, three assists and three steals. Ruach notched 16 points, seven assists and four rebounds.
Second-year defenceman Marcus Smith scored twice including the game-winner as the men’s hockey team snapped a five-game winless streak with a 6-5 overtime victory over Concordia on Saturday. Special teams played a huge role in the Lions win, as they scored four times with the man advantage and once while short handed. Lions goaltender Kevin Druce faced over 40 shots for the sixth straight game, this time making 42 saves to earn the win. Steve Chabbert, Darryl Thomson, Mike McKenna and Sean Langdon had the other York goals.
The women’s hockey team lost 4-2 to Brock on Saturday in its only game last week. Mandy Cole and Jessica Turi scored for York, while goaltender Meghan Slumskie made 27 saves in her first OUA start.
This article was submitted to YFile by Jim McLarty, sports information officer in York’s School of Kinesiology & Health Sciences.