The York University Lions field hockey team made it two consecutive Ontario University Athletics (OUA) field hockey championships on Sunday, defeating the University of Guelph Gryphons by a score of 1-0 in the final of the OUA championship tournament.
Playing on a cold, overcast day at Warrior Field in Waterloo, Ont., the Lions jumped out a quick start when forward Jaslan Stirling scored six minutes into the game. Stirling found herself alone in front of Warriors goaltender Amanda Hodgert and deked to her left around the goalie to find a wide-open net and give the Lions a 1-0 lead. More details on the York Lions website.
On Friday, the Lions opened the tournament by crushing the McMaster University Marauders 16-0 in their first playoff game.
The Lions dominated the match, scoring nine goals in the first half and seven in the second. First-year rooki, Amber Sandhu, who scored four goals in the regular season, had a spectacular match, scoring five goals for the Lions. She scored three in the first half at the 30th, 33rd and 35th minutes, followed by two in the second half at the 50th and 61st minutes. More details.
In the semifinal on Saturday, the Lions defeated the host University of Waterloo Warriors 8-2 to advance to the OUA finals for the second straight year.
The Lions were able to get eight goals past Warriors goalie Marley Dowling, scoring four in the first half and four in the second. York’s Chloe Walton, who scored a goal in the previous win against the Marauders, earned herself a hat trick by scoring in the 10th, 40th and 42nd minutes. More details.
Lions advance to OUA final four championships with victory over Warriors
The York University Lions men’s soccer team has advanced to the following round of the OUA playoffs after beating the Waterloo Warriors 3-0 on home turf at Alumni Field on Sunday.
Although the game between York, the No. 1-seeded team in the OUA, and Waterloo, the sixth-seeded team in the OUA, was fast-paced, the first goal of the game didn’t occur until the 25th minute, after the Lions’ first two shots on goal, by forward Cristian Cavallini and midfielder Emmanuel Zambazis, were stopped by the Warriors.
It was York’s star forward Omar Marzouk who scored the first goal of the playoffs for the Lions and gave the team a 1-0 lead. More details.
Jackman scores hat trick in big 7-0 win over Voyageurs
The York University men’s hockey team won 7-0 in their second of two back-to-back games against the Laurentian University Voyageurs on Saturday evening at Canlan Ice Sports.
The Lions opened up the first period by scoring two late goals to pick up a well-deserved 2-0 lead. After multiple goal-scoring chances, the Lions scored their first goal at 17:35 when Morgan Messenger and Bradley Forrest assisted Reid Jackman. Jackman received a puck in front of the net from wide right and shot the puck, which went off the top crossbar and in. More details.
A day earlier, the Lions picked up a 3-1 win against the same Voyageurs on Friday evening at Canlan Ice Sports.
The Lions and Voyageurs were close in shots, with the Lions shooting 28 times compared to the Voyageurs’ 26. The home team was able to capitalize on three and Mack Shields made 25 important saves for the Lions.
The Lions opened up the scoring in the first period at 14:24 when Justin Maiolino, who was assisted by Mark Wilson and Daniel Nikandrov, was able to sneak a goal past the Voyageurs’ goaltender, giving them a 1-0 lead going into the second period. More details.
Lions top Lakers 3-1, Neilson gets first win as head coach
The York University Lions women’s volleyball team beat the Nipissing University Lakers in North Bay, Ont., on Saturday, winning three out of four sets against the Lakers in their first regular season game of 2018-19.
The Lions took the first set of the game as they reached the 25-point mark, while the Lakers scored 18 points. The Lions were able to record eight kills, three of them by York’s Kayla Clennon, and the Lakers were not too far behind with six kills.
In the second set of the game, the Lakers were able to pull ahead and win the set, tying the score 1-1. The Lakers cruised to the 25-point mark as the Lions trailed behind by 10 points. The Lakers’ Madison Murphy scored three of the seven kills for Nipissing in the set. More details.
Lions fall to Mustangs 3-2 in OUA quarterfinal
The York University Lions women’s soccer team fought to the finish as they played the University of Western Mustangs during the quarterfinals of the OUA playoffs on Sunday, Oct. 29 at Alumni Field. The Mustangs eliminated the Lions from the playoffs with a 3-2 victory after the Lions recovered from a two-nil deficit.
Western got off to an early scoring start as Kiera Grein, the Mustangs’ midfielder, scored the first goal of the game and her first goal of the season in the third minute of the game. The Mustangs struck again 26 minutes later, when Katrina Giantsopoulos scored against the Lions, furthering Western’s lead in the pivotal single elimination playoff round. More details.
Pisani and Ghadghoni top finishers for Lions at OUA cross country championships
It was a cold, rainy and muddy morning at the 2018 OUA cross country championships on Saturday, but that didn’t seem to dampen the spirit or the drive of the athletes taking part.
In the men’s race, Lions third-year runner Ali Ghadghoni led the York contingent with a 56th place finish, near the middle of the pack, in a time of 34:19 in the men’s 10-kilometre race. Austin Kpiebewieng was the next Lion to cross the line in 82nd place (36:54), followed closely behind by Christopher Pietrangelo in 84th (36:59) and Justin Kpiebewieng in 92nd (37:57). More details.
Lions fall 1-0 to Gaels
The York University women’s hockey team was defeated in a close 1-0 game by the Queen’s Gaels on Friday evening in Kingston, Ont.
Although the Lions had two shots more with 21 compared to the Gaels’ 19, the Gaels were able to capitalize on one of their shots to win the 1-0 game.
The first and only goal came in the first period at 10:03 by Katrina Manoukarakis, assisted by Hailey Wilson and Caroline DeBruin. The Lions were able to get eight more shots in the second period and seven in the third period, but were unable to find the back of the Gaels’ net to tie the game. More details.
The following afternoon, the Lions were were defeated 2-1 by the UOIT Ridgebacks on Saturday afternoon in Oshawa, Ont. The Lions scored an early goal in the first period; however, the Ridgebacks were able to score two goals in the third period to top the Lions.
The Lions led the Ridgebacks for two periods, thanks to an early goal four minutes into the first period by Avery Reeves, assisted by Leah Hibbert. More details.
York opens season with road loss to Nipissing
The York Lions men’s volleyball team lost its first regular-season game to the Nipissing University Lakers on Saturday by a score of 3-1 after a close battle between the two teams in North Bay, Ont.
The sets were close throughout the entire game. In the first set, the Lions fell by a tight 25-23 score. The Lions offence was on point to start the game and had 13 kills in the set. York’s Tyler Covach contributed four kills throughout the first set for the Lions; however, Nipissing was able to secure the first-set win.
The second set saw the Lions secure the win from the Lakers 25-15. The set also saw 12 kills by the Lions and seven by Nipissing. York’s Alexandre Rioux secured two kills for the Lions, helping them win the set and tie the game 1-1. More details.
Town places 12th at senior world championships
Former York Lions wrestler Alexandria Town competed in her first senior world wrestling championships in Budapest, Hungary, this week and placed 12th in her weight class.
Town, who was recently named an assistant coach with the Lions wrestling program, competed in the 57-kilogram weight class and started the tournament well, beating her opponent by a score of 10-0 in her opening match.
However, she was defeated 10-0 by eventual silver-medallist Bulgaria’s Bilyana Dudova in the quarterfinals and found herself competing against Romania’s Kateryna Zhydachevska for a spot in the bronze-medal match. More details.