Lewis Chaitov
Staff Writer
The Windsor Lancers came out looking for Lion blood on the pitch Saturday afternoon. The game concluded tied at one, but easily could have gone either way. The Lancers tried to set the tempo early by striking through the centre of the pitch. The game plan was similar to the last mach between the two teams for the Lancers: move the ball along the outside and strike through the middle using touch-and-go combos along with through balls.
Though Windsor had a definite plan of attack, the Lions struck first. Rookie forward Colleen Beesley put in the first goal in the fifth minute. She was able to drill a shot past Lancers goaltender Rebecca Singer, while being challenged by defenders. Lions captain Nicole Markowitz set up the scoring opportunity with a crafty 15-yard pass splitting the defense. Both teams were applying the pressure towards the end of the half with York able to stay on top.
In the second half the winds picked up to over 100 km/h, making it rough for both teams. The Lancers came out of the locker room with something to prove, testing Lions OUA West goaltender Sarah Fiorini on multiple occasions, including a resilient diving save upon going head to head with a Lancer striker, spoiling the best opposing scoring opportunity of the game.
The Lancers remained behind until only six minutes remained in regulation time, when fifth-year Mereasa Brownlie scored a goal, deflating the Lions.
“We could have won the game today,” says Beesley. “It was a little upsetting they only scored in the last five minutes.”
Although the Lions were able to stay atop the leaderboard in the league, they feel this game could have yielded better results.
“We worked very hard but our defence slipped a little bit,” says Jessie Wotton, a rookie York forward. “We were not on our toes at the end, and they got in.”
Windsor’s coaching staff still sees the Lions as a fierce team to beat.
“York is very good,” says Kevin Mulvey, Lancers assistant coach. “Their best weapon is their speed. […] We wanted to get their passing game going but failed today. The wind played a lot of tricks today.”
The next Lions game is on the road October 16 at Guelph. The Lions return to their den October 21 at 1 p.m. to take on Laurier.
