York’s women’s basketball Lions – the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) East Division’s leading team – will host the Ottawa Gee-Gees in semifinal action today. The Lions received a first-round bye after finishing first in the division with a 19-3 record, while the sixth place Gee-Gees (6-16) upset third place Laurentian (12-10) 51-47 in the quarter-finals. Game time tonight is 8pm at the Tait McKenzie Centre. Tickets are $5 for adults, $3 for all students/seniors, while children 12 and under are free. Tickets can be purchased at the Tait McKenzie Centre Customer Service Desk, beginning at 7pm. If the Lions win today’s semifinal, they will host the East final on Saturday at the Tait McKenzie Centre at 6pm.
Right: Lions’ goaltender Melanie Quinn makes one of her 52 saves against Guelph in Sunday’s 3-3 tie
The men’s basketball team will host Laurentian in the quarter-finals on Wednesday. York finished fourth in the OUA East with a record of 14-8, while Laurentian was fifth with an 8-14 record. Game time Wednesday is 8pm at the Tait McKenzie Centre. Tickets are $5 for adults, $3 for all students/seniors, while children 12 and under are free. Tickets can be purchased at the Tait McKenzie Centre Customer Service Desk, beginning at 7pm on Wednesday.
The Lions track and field teams will compete at the OUA championship this weekend in Windsor. York has several athletes who are medal contenders including Kaitlin Coopman who is ranked second in the OUA and fifth in Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) in the 600 metres. On the men’s side, Marlon Nangle is the defending national champion in the triple jump and is ranked number one in both the OUA and CIS. Anthony Garber is ranked first in the OUA and second in the CIS in the 60 metre run, while Ben Krul is second in the OUA third in the CIS in the pentathlon.
The 2004-05 OUA Champion York men’s volleyball team was eliminated from the post-season following a 3-1 loss to the eight-ranked ranked Ryerson Rams in the conference semifinals on Saturday. York advanced with a 3-1 quarter-final victory over Western on Thursday. The women’s volleyball team was also eliminated after a hard-fought 3-2 loss to Ottawa in the OUA quarter-finals on Friday. Fourth-year hitter Elizabeth Salas-Chavez recorded a team-high 19 kills and 22 points in the loss for York.
The York men’s hockey team fell two games to none to the Lakehead Thunderwolves in an opening round best-of-three OUA playoff series last week. Lakehead scored three times in the third period to edge the Lions 4-3 in the opening contest at the Ice Gardens on Wednesday. The Thunderwolves scored with one second remaining in the first overtime period in a 5-4 win on Friday night in Thunder Bay.
The women’s hockey team completed a successful season under second-year head coach Dan Church with a 3-3 draw against the Guelph Gryphons on Sunday afternoon. With the tie, the Lions finished the season with a 6-10-8-0 record and 20 points, a 16-point improvement over last year. The team contended for a playoff berth into the final weekend of the regular season but saw its post-season dream fade on Saturday after a 3-0 setback against the number-two-ranked Laurier Golden Hawks.
This story was submitted to YFile by Jim McLarty, sport & recreation information officer in York’s School of Kinesiology & Health Science.