Alexander Colle | Sports Editor
Featured image: Goaltender Mack Shields lives up to the name, records first shutout on the season. | Courtesy of York Lions
The York Lions hockey team had a couple of challenges this weekend in an attempt to bring their season record to a perfect 8-0.
For the first of two games, the undefeated Lions travelled to Waterloo to take on the 4-1-1 Laurier Golden Hawks.
The game started in York’s favour, when Lion Colton Vannucci snuck one by Laurier goalie Colin Furlong, assisted by Trevor Petersen and Morgan Messenger.
Neither team could find the back of the net for the rest of the first period.
However, the floodgates officially opened in the second minute of the second, when the Golden Hawks began an offensive onslaught.
After successfully getting the puck past Lions goaltender Mack Shields in the second and 10th minutes, courtesy of Hawks forwards Anthony Sorrentino and Erik Puska, Laurier found themselves on the power play when Lion Derek Sheppard was given a delay of game penalty with three minutes left in the period.
Laurier capitalized on this opportunity just 35 seconds into the man-advantage, when Andrew Fritsch put another one past Shields to bring the score to 3-1 in favour of Laurier.
If the Lions had any hope of coming back in this game, their dreams were quickly crushed in the third period right after the faceoff, when the Golden Hawks found their way past York’s blue line 27 seconds in and blasted one home, courtesy of Danny Hanlon.
Lion Scott Fesser would managed to get one back in the 10th minute assisted by Messenger and Reid Jackman—but this would not nearly be enough for the Lions, as the Hawks would add two more in the 11th and 14th minute of the third period, courtesy of Mac Clutsam and Trevor Sauder.
The 6-2 final was one to forget for the Lions, who were handed their first loss on the early campaign.
They would get a chance to redeem themselves back at home facing off against a 3-2-1 Waterloo Warriors team.
All the scoring the Lions needed in this game came within a one-minute time span in the first period, as Josh LaFrance found the back of the net in the sixth minute, assisted by Justin Bean. This was immediately followed by a goal from Feser a minute later, when he slapped home his second of the weekend, assisted by Jackman and Petersen.
York would get 29 more shots on goal in the second and third periods, but could not find the back of the net. However, the goal-drought didn’t matter in the end, as Mack Shields stopped all 25 shots he faced en route to his first shutout of the season.
The Lions will be traveling on Friday, when they’ll take on the Western Mustangs in London before returning home to take on the Lakehead Thunderbirds at York on Saturday. Puck drop is 7 p.m. for both games.
