Weekend wrap: York men’s soccer caps undefeated regular season with 2-1 win over Western

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The York University Lions men’s soccer team heads into the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) playoffs with an undefeated record and seven-game winning streak after beating the University of Western Mustangs 2-1 on Sunday, Oct. 21 at the Mustang Field in London, Ont.

York’s Chris Jacovou scored an unassisted goal, his fifth goal of the regular season, just three minutes into the first half, giving the Lions a 1-0 lead. More details on the York Lions website. 

Two nights earlier, on Friday, Oct. 19, the Lions were on the road playing the University of Windsor Lancers and beat them on their home turf with a 1-0 win.  

The sole goal of the game was scored by none other than York’s Omar Marzouk, who has recorded a total of 14 goals in the 15 games he has played this regular season. Marzouk scored the goal at the 64th minute of the game, which saw a total of six shots by York and seven shots by the Lancers who were unable to find the back of the net. More details.  

Lions win last three regular season games to stay undefeated 

The York University Lions field hockey team travelled to Montreal and won their last three regular season games with wins over the University of Western Mustangs, the McGill University Martlets and the University of Waterloo Warriors.   

The Lions have had a spectacular year so far and ended the regular season with a 10-0-2 record and 32 points. With one more point than the second-place University of Toronto Varsity Blues, the Lions will be entering playoffs in first place. 

The Lions started off the weekend with a 4-0 win over McGill on Saturday morning. Jaslan Stirling, who has now ended off the regular season as the leading goal scorer with 22 goals, netted another hat trick for the Lions. More details.  

Lions, peaking at right time, head into playoffs in big 5-2 win over Mustangs 

The York University Lions beat the University of Western Mustangs to a 5-2 win on Sunday, Oct. 21 in London, Ont., to finish off their regular season. Western started off the game with three shots against York, the third resulting in a goal at the eighth minute by Western’s Jess Vieira, assisted by Nikki Balachorek. 

York’s Christina Morelli, who played her final regular season game as a Lion, had a scoring chance against the Mustangs; however, it went to the right of Western’s net. Morelli then answered that attempt with her first goal of the game, which was assisted by Kiyani Johnson. More details.  

On Friday night, the Lions beat the University of Windsor Lancers 4-3 in their second to last game of the regular season in Windsor, Ont. The Lions had 17 shots throughout the entire game while the Lancers had five shots.  

York’s Christina Morelli was the first athlete to fire a shot during the game at the third minute of the game and at the 13th minute, she scored the first goal of the game. Seven minutes later, Windsor’s Kaitlyn Austin answered York’s goal and scored the first goal for the Lancers. More details. 

Lions end season with win over Blues in 49th edition of Red and Blue Bowl 

The York University Lions football team ended their season on a high note Saturday as they picked up a win against their cross-town rivals the University of Toronto Varsity Blues by a score of 31-15. A big second quarter, in which they scored 28 of their 31 points, was all the Lions needed for the victory. With the win, the Lions pull closer to the Blues in Red and Blue Bowl history who still hold the edge 31-18, but the Lions hold on to the bragging rights for another season. 

The Lions got on the board first after Toronto conceded a safety on their first possession. A fumbled snap by Toronto quarterback Vince Luccisano led to sack by defensive end Rossini Sandjong-Djabome that pinned the Blues deep in their own territory and led to them kneeling down in end zone for the safety. More details.  

Lions comeback bid falls short in loss to Ravens 

After falling behind early, the York Lions football team made a spirited comeback effort in the second half, but it was not enough as they fell to the Carleton University Ravens by a score of 35-20. The Lions were down 18-0 after the first quarter but pulled within three points with the score at 20-17 after three quarters. The Ravens had a bit more left in the tank though and pulled away in the fourth quarter to clinch the victory. 

The Ravens got on the board early with a rouge point from kicker Mike Domagala on the game’s opening kickoff, and Domagala followed that with a 48-yard field goal on the Ravens first drive to give them a 4-0 lead. After a Lions field goal attempt by kicker Dante Mastrogiuseppe missed a few drives later, Ravens returner Chris Manchulenko ran the ball back 93 yards to put Carleton deep in Lions territory. On the ensuing possession, quarterback Michael Arruda found Phil Iloki in the end zone for the game’s first touchdown, and a few minutes later Arruda completed a 36-yard touchdown pass to Khalik Johnson to make the score 18-0 before the game was 13 minutes old. More details. 

Lions take down Warriors in first game of season 

The York University women’s hockey team scored two early goals to secure a 2-1 win against the University of Waterloo Warriors in their first game of the year on Friday evening at Canlan Ice Sports. Just 12 seconds after the puck drop, Kelsey McHolm scored her first of two goals assisted by Courtney Gardiner and Brooke Anderson. McHolm, a third-year veteran, led the team with seven goals and was third overall with 10 points in the 2017-18 season. 

The Lions continued to dominate the first period and produced the most goal scoring attempts with a total of 17 shots. Avery Reeves had an attempt at goal, followed by Anderson who shot a pass she received right across goal, however the Warriors goalie, Amanda Smith, saved both attempts. More details.  

Lions net six goals in win over Ridgebacks  

The York University men’s hockey team took home a big victory over the UOIT Ridgebacks with a 6-1 win on Saturday evening in a road win at Campus Ice Centre.   

Six Lions were able to get a shot passed the Ridgebacks’ goalie, Brendan O’Neill, even though the team put up less shots with 27 compared to the Ridgebacks’ 30. Mack Shields had an impressive night saving 29 of the 30 Ridgeback shots. 

The Lions controlled the first two periods at UOIT’s home ice and scored four goals to take a 4-0 lead by the third period. More details.  

The night before, the York University men’s hockey team faced a tough 5-4 overtime loss against the Concordia University Stingers on Friday evening in Montreal, Que. 

The Lions got on the scoreboard first at 14:04 with a power play goal by Scott Feser assisted by Josh LaFrance and Justin Bean. The Lions had ten shots on goal in the first period while the Singers had 15 but were unable to beat the Lions goaltender, Mack Shields. The Lions led 1-0 at the end of the period. More details. 

Lions lose to Mustangs in consolation final 

The York University women’s rugby team were defeated 45-31 by the Western Mustangs in the consolation final on Saturday afternoon at Alumni Field. 

Fourth-year veteran, Veronica Harrigan led the Mustangs in the first 20 minutes scoring three tries, one at the fourth minute, 13th minute and 17th minute. Her teammate, Lexi Smith, was also able to score two conversions and the Mustangs jumped out to a 19-0 lead.   

The following 20 minutes, the Lions dominated the Mustangs scoring three tries which tied the game. At the 21st minute, Megan Pakulis plowed herself through the Mustangs’ defence to score the first try for the Lions. More details.