Weekend wrap: Men’s hockey Lions turn the tables and defeat Golden Hawks

The York University Lions men’s hockey team took on the visiting Wilfrid Laurier University Golden Hawks in their last home game of 2017 on Friday night and wrapped up the year in style, posting a convincing 4-1 victory at Canlan Ice Sports.

The Golden Hawks had surpassed the Lions by one point in the standings and came in to Friday’s game sitting in first place in the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) West. They also handed the Lions their first loss of the season, defeating the Lions 6-2 earlier this year. On Friday, the Lions were able to redeem themselves.

Nine minutes into the first period, the Lions scored and gave themselves an early lead. This goal was scored by Trevor Petersen. After that, neither team scored for the remainder of the period and the Lions led 1-0. More details on the York Lions website.

The Lions ended the fall portion of their schedule with a 5-2 defeat to the rival Ryerson University Rams at the Mattamy Athletic Centre on Saturday night.

It was all about special teams in the first period as the two teams combined for three goals. The Lions opened the scoring at 11:01 when Reid Jackman scored a power play tally. The lead was short-lived, however, as Cavin Leth scored a power play goal of his own just 1:40 late to level the score at 1-1. More details.

Track and field Lions begin season strong at annual Xmas Open meet

The York University Lions track and field team had their first competition against Ontario University Athletics (OUA) opponents this weekend at the annual Xmas Open and recorded seven podium finishes at the Toronto Track & Field Centre.

The seven top-three finishes included a pair of gold medals courtesy of Christy Ihunaegbo and Vaishnavy Yogarajah. Ihunaegbo, a former OUA and U SPORTS medallist in the 300m, started her season off with a 39.45-second run in the event to finish in first place. Yogarajah, meanwhile, topped the podium in the 3000m race in a personal-best time of 11:35.00. More details.

Gaels use big second half to defeat women’s basketball Lions

The York University Lions women’s basketball team raced out to a big first-quarter lead but could not maintain the momentum en route to a 71-60 loss to the Queen’s University Gaels at the Athletic & Recreation Centre in Kingston, Ont., on Wednesday.

Playing against a one-loss Gaels team and in front of more than 1,500 school children, the Lions built a 25-18 lead in the first quarter. The frame ended with Haley Bowie nailing a three-pointer at the buzzer to put the Lions up by seven.

The Gaels chipped away at the deficit in the second and got the score to within one at 33-32 late in the quarter, but Bowie hit her second buzzer-beater of the half and the Lions were up 36-32 at the break. More details.

Slow start hurts men’s basketball Lions in final game of fall semester

The York University Lions men’s basketball team was defeated by a score of 82-61 by the Queen’s University Gaels on Wednesday afternoon in their final game of the fall semester at the Athletics & Recreation Centre in Kingston, Ont.

Ricky Hudson scored the opening basket of the game, but momentum quickly swung to the home team and the Gaels outscored the Lions 22-8 in the first quarter to take a commanding lead the Lions could not recover from.

Queen’s continued its strong play in the second, stretching their advantage to 45-21 at the half. The third quarter went much better for the Lions as they narrowed the gap slightly, but they could not get close to the Gaels again. More details.