The Homecoming Red & Blue Bowl is always a much-anticipated game for the York Lions, but this year’s edition of the Toronto gridiron classic has special significance.
The University of Toronto Varsity Blues enter Saturday’s football game (1pm) at York Stadium on a 45-game losing streak, putting them just two losses shy of York’s national record. The Blues would like nothing more than to snap their streak against their cross-town rivals, but the Lions have won 12 consecutive games against U of T. Both teams enter the game at 0-4 on the season for the second year in a row
The Lions completed their first half of the season with a 53-14 road loss against the defending Ontario University Athletics champion Ottawa Gee-Gees Saturday in the nation’s capital. The Lions had more than 300 yards of net offence against the powerful Gee-Gees, including 244 passing yards from quarterback Michael Hyatt.
Another big event on campus this weekend is the York Lions men’s hockey pre-season tournament. The Lions, in their second year under head coach Bill Maguire (right), will face off against the Ryerson Rams, the UOIT Ridgebacks and the Western Mustangs in games this weekend at Canlan Ice Sports. Game times are 2pm and 5:30pm Saturday and Sunday.
York’s tennis teams also play at home this weekend. The men put their perfect 3-0 record on the line against the Western Mustangs (Friday, 4pm) and the McMaster Marauders (Sunday, 9am). The women, coming off a big 6-1 win over the three-time defending champion University of Toronto Varsity Blues, also face Mac on Sunday morning. Second-year tennis player Henar Bolteya was named York’s female athlete of the week this past week after improving her record to 4-0 on the season.
The rugby team returns home Sunday (1pm) for a match against the University of Toronto Varsity Blues. The Lions will try to put a mark in the win column for the first time this year as they are off to an 0-3 loss after losing 28-0 against Trent this past weekend.
The Lions soccer teams head to Western and Windsor this weekend after seeing their perfect streaks come to an end this past weekend. The men (7-0-1) tied Mac 0-0 on Saturday before bouncing back to beat the Brock Badgers 1-0 on Sunday at York Stadium. David Nogaro (right), who scored the goal against Brock, was named York’s male athlete of the week. The women (7-1-0) beat Mac 4-1 on Saturday and lost 1-0 against Brock on Sunday.
Meanwhile, the Lions women’s hockey team begins regular season play this week. The Lions travel to Waterloo for its first two games – Thursday night against the Laurier Golden Hawks and Sunday against the Waterloo Warriors.
Submitted to YFile by Mike Koreen, sport & recreation information officer in York’s School of Kinesiology & Health Science, Faculty of Health.