Weekend wrap: Men’s hockey Lions fall to Badgers in deciding game of OUA semifinal series

lions men's hockey York University

The York University Lions men’s hockey team suffered a heartbreaking 3-2 defeat to the Brock University Badgers in the deciding game of their Ontario University Athletics (OUA) semifinal series on Saturday night at Canlan Ice Sports. 

The Lions dominated play for most of the contest, spending large portions of time in the Brock end of the rink and outshooting the Badgers 53-20. But, goaltender Clint Windsor stood on his head to make 51 saves, and the Badgers never gave up despite falling behind by a pair of goals early. 

The Lions wasted no time reminding the Badgers whose ice they were playing on. At 45 seconds into the game, Colton Vannucci scored with the assistance of Nick Zottl to put the Lions onto the scoreboard early on. More details on the York Lions website. 

The Lions forced the series to a third game after a thrilling 4-3 comeback victory in overtime in Game 2 on the road. Rookie forward Adam Marsh scored on a beautiful wrist-shot eight minutes into the first overtime period to give the Lions the win. 

They had suffered a disheartening 6-2 loss to the Badgers in Game 1 of the series on Wednesday and had to make up for it on Friday in order to stay in the playoffs. It didn’t look good early as they trailed by two goals in the second period, but the Lions came all the way back and found a way to win. More details 

In Wednesday’s opener, the game did not start off well for the Lions as the Badgers wasted little time getting on the scoreboard. An early penalty allowed Sammy Banga to score less than two minutes into the game for a quick 1-0 lead.  

The Lions battled hard following this goal, and their efforts paid off. Trevor Petersen scored four minutes later with the assistance of Morgan Messenger and Colton Vannucci to level the score at 1-1. This was not the end of the action for the period, however, as the Badgers quickly restored their lead and then built a significant advantage. More details. 

Despite strong opening set, men’s volleyball Lions upset by Lancers in OUA quarters 

The York University Lions men’s volleyball team hosted the University of Windsor Lancers Saturday afternoon in OUA quarter-final action and, despite a strong opening set, could not overtake the Lancers in any other set and lost the match 3-1. 

The first set remained so close it had to exceed the 25-point mark. At the technical timeout, the Lions trailed just behind their opponent, at 16-14. The Lancers continued to maintain the advantage and had multiple set points at 24-22. But the Lions rallied to tie it at 24-24 and then the two teams traded points until it got to 27-26. On the next point, the Lancers could not control a final serve from Logan Mend, which put the Lions the two points ahead they needed to claim the set in a final 28-26. More details. 

Women’s volleyball Lions bested by Marauders in OUA quarter-final match 

The York University Lions women’s volleyball team travelled to Hamilton, Ont., for a Saturday evening quarter-final match against the McMaster Marauders and lost in straight sets to the team seeded at the top of the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) West Division. 

The first set was tough for the Lions, who were defeated 25-16. McMaster led 16-10 at the technical timeout and continued to carry that momentum through to the end. The second set was the Lions best. After a small Lions lead of 16-15 at the technical timeout, the Marauders came back to win by four points at 25-21. More details.