The York University Lions women’s volleyball team extended its season-opening winning streak to eight games on Sunday afternoon with a thrilling 3-2 victory over the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees at Montpetit Hall.
Both teams came into the match with perfect records and were in the national rankings, with the Lions sitting at No. 7 and the Gee-Gees at No. 4. The match between the two squads more than lived up to its billing as it went the distance and featured several momentum changes and a raucous crowd.
The Gee-Gees took the first set by a narrow 25-23 score, but the Lions answered back and won the next two sets by scores of 25-23 and 25-20.
The Gee-Gees refused to let York walk away with victory in the next set, as they thoroughly outplayed the Lions to the tune of a 25-12 score. The Lions took the game-deciding fifth set after a furious rally, which saw the squad come back from an early 5-0 deficit. The Lions scored three unanswered points to take the set by a final score of 19-17. More details on the York Lions website.
Men’s hockey Lions topple Golden Hawks in Movember game
The York University Lions men’s hockey team faced off in a home ice matchup against the division rival Wilfrid Laurier University Golden Hawks on Thursday evening, battling to a hard fought 5-2 victory at Canlan Ice Sports.
Tyler McGee led all players with a three-point night, including a pair of goals and one assist. Rookie Paul Sohor also had a multi-point night with a pair of assists.
The first period saw mostly physical, clean action as the teams took immediately to the checking game. Forward Troy Barss took no prisoners, punishing the Hawks with hard checks throughout the game. More details.
Two days later, rookie forward Michael Santini scored two goals to lead the Lions to a 5-1 victory over the University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT) Ridgebacks on Saturday night at Campus Ice Centre in Oshawa.
Santini brought his scoring total to four goals and eight points on the season with the pair on Saturday. Jordan Forfar, Tyler Mort and Michael Lombardi all posted two-point nights as well in a dominant Lions victory.
York opened the scoring early in the first period, with Forfar scoring his third of the season on a power play just three minutes into the game with assists from Mort and Sohor. More details.
Men’s basketball Lions cruise to big win over Warriors
The York University Lions men’s basketball team dismantled the University of Waterloo Warriors on Saturday night in an 80-54 victory at the Tait McKenzie Centre.
The Lions used a plethora of free throws down the stretch to blow the game wide open in the fourth quarter en route to their most lopsided win of the season. Their defence also played well in the victory, limiting the Warriors to 32.8 per cent shooting for the game.
The highlight of the first quarter came when Lions forward Daniel Tulloch got the crowd on its feet as he took a sweet off-the-backboard pass from Akeem Isaac and slammed the ball home to give the Lions a slim 16-11 lead heading into the second stanza. More details.
The victory came one night after a narrow two-point loss to the Wilfrid Laurier University Golden Hawks by a score of 96-94.
In that game, the first quarter saw both teams make a concerted effort to get to the charity stripe, as a total of 16 free throws were taken. It was the Lions who had the advantage in the category however, as they made all ten of their foul shots. Despite all the whistles and free-throw attempts, the quarter was quite fast paced and saw several lead changes, including a three-pointer by Laurier in the dying seconds that gave them a 27-25 lead heading into the second stanza. More details.
Women’s basketball Lions defeat Warriors for season’s first win
The York University Lions women’s basketball team picked up its first win of the season on Saturday night, defeating the University of Waterloo Warriors by a final score of 58-43 at the Tait McKenzie Centre.
The Lions used a dominant second quarter to extend the five-point lead they had in the first quarter, and led 37-17 at the half. The Warriors edged the Lions in each of the next two quarters but it wasn’t nearly enough to erase the early deficit. More details.
The previous night, the Lions were edged by the Wilfrid Laurier University Golden Hawks in overtime by a score of 70-68.
Despite Cyrielle Recoura’s incredible fourth quarter and overtime efforts, which saw her score 21 of her team’s last 23 points, the Lions were unable to dispose of the Golden Hawks. Recoura finished with 26 points. She also added eight rebounds and three assists. More details.
Szeto’s 21 points lead men’s volleyball Lions over Lancers
York University Lions outside hitter Ray Szeto recorded a game-high 21 points on Sunday afternoon to lead the men’s volleyball team to a straight sets win over the University of Windsor Lancers at the St. Denis Centre.
Although the Lions won all three sets, the victory didn’t come easy as they won by a combined eight points. Windsor held a lead in all three sets, but couldn’t manage to get the job done as they faltered in the latter stages.
The first set saw the Lions squeak by after a kill by outside-hitter Nikola Sandic gave them the narrow 25-23 win. After the Lions took the second set 25-21, the Lancers were determined to battle it out as they held a 15-12 lead in the third set. Unfortunately for Windsor, the Lions proved to be too strong as they would claw back and record a slim 25-23 win. More details.
One day earlier, the Lions were defeated in straight sets by the Western University Mustangs on the road in London.
The Mustangs jumped out to an early lead in the first set, but the Lions came storming back at the mid-point of the set and led 16-13 at the technical timeout. Western came out strong from the break and evened the set, and the two teams traded points back and forth until the end. On five occasions the Lions saved a set point after the Mustangs appeared poised to take it, but they couldn’t do the same on the sixth and Western took the set 30-28.
From there, the Mustangs dominated the match for the straight-sets win, taking the second set 25-13 and the third set 25-11. More details.
Guelph Gryphons take down women’s hockey Lions
The York University Lions women’s hockey team dropped a 5-1 decision to the No. 9 nationally ranked University of Guelph Gryphons on Sunday afternoon at Canlan Ice Sports.
York lost its season opener to Guelph by the same 5-1 score on Oct. 6, the only previous meeting between the two teams this season. They will meet once more this year, on Jan. 17 in Guelph.
York forward Andrea Joyce got the game off to an exciting start, deking Gryphon goalie Brooke Siddall only to fire a clean shot right off the post. Her effort was soon rewarded, however, as she picked up the game’s first goal just 38 seconds into the first period, creating a turnover and sinking an easy wrist shot into an open net while Siddall was in the corner, chasing down her loose stick. There was no assist on the goal. More details.
One day earlier, the Lions were defeated by a final score of 2-1 by the Brock University Badgers, also at Canlan.
The Lions got off to a shaky start in the first but after killing an early penalty, they settled into a comfortable rhythm. Neither team was able to establish much consistent offence, but Lions’ goaltender Megan Lee was able to deny the Badgers’ best chance of the period on a speedy breakaway by Katie Howlett. More details.