Hockey teams post big weekend wins

York’s Chloe Milano puts one past the Brock Badgers goaltender in hockey action Saturday at Canlan Ice Sports arena. Photo by Jennifer Brailsford.

While the York University Lions women’s soccer team was stealing the spotlight this weekend with their provincial championship, several other Lions teams were posting big wins of their own.

The men’s hockey team (4-4-1) upset the No. 7-nationally ranked Waterloo Warriors with a 3-1 victory on Saturday on home ice. Last year’s team MVP Jesse Grespan scored two goals, including the game winner, to give the Lions their fourth victory in the last six games.

The women’s hockey team avenged a loss to Brock in last year’s playoffs with a dominating 6-3 victory on Sunday afternoon. Autumn Mills scored two goals and added an assist while team captain Courtney Unruh (one goal, two assists) and Danielle Beach (three assists) also had three-point days. The win pushed the Lions’ record back to .500 at 3-3.

The women’s volleyball team earned a hard-fought 3-2 triumph over the Ryerson Rams on Sunday and is now in sole possession of first place in the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) East Division with a 3-1 record. The Lions appeared to be cruising after winning the first two sets, but Ryerson responded by winning the next two to force the fifth and deciding set. York pulled out the win with a 15-13 fifth-set victory.

The badminton team (2-3) narrowly defeated the McMaster Marauders 7-6 to earn a spot at the OUA championships, which will be hosted by York University on Nov. 21.

The men’s volleyball team (1-5) lost a pair of heartbreaking five-set matches to the visiting Western Mustangs and Windsor Lancers on the weekend. Team captain Reid Hall was dominant for the Lions in both games, combining to score 39 points. His average of 3.98 points per game now has him in ninth spot in the OUA.

The women’s basketball team (0-3) played its first two road games and was defeated by the Windsor Lancers 66-49 and the Western Mustangs 69-54.

The men’s basketball team (0-2) opened the regular season with a pair of losses to the Windsor Lancers and Western Mustangs. The Lions fell to the Lancers 94-55 and the Mustangs, last year’s fourth-place team at the Canadian Interuniversity Sport championships, 94-61.