Zain Rashid | Staff Writer
Featured Image: The Lions honoured Mark Cross’ memory in a pre-match ceremony. | Courtesy of YorkU Lions
York’s men’s and women’s hockey teams were back in action over the weekend to commence the second half of the season.
The men’s team had a two game homestand on Friday and Saturday against the U of T’s Varsity Blues and Brock Badgers.
The women’s team opened the second half of the season with a loss on the road to Brock on Saturday.
During the women’s game, the Badgers opened the score in the 10th minute of the first period. The Lions responded with a fierce attack that resulted in an equalizer as Erin Locke knotted things up at one with four minutes remaining in the first.
Despite dominating the second period in terms of shots on goal and possession, the Lions conceded the go-ahead goal to the Badgers in the 16th minute.
Going into the third, the Lions still had a chance of making a comeback as they were trailing by just one. However, those hopes were soon extinguished as the Badgers found the back of the net early in the final frame. York showed some resiliency, as they responded with a goal of their own courtesy of Kelsey McHolm, making the score 3-2. However, the Badgers responded with two more goals, just 21 seconds apart, all but guaranteeing the win.
Both teams traded goals late, en route to the 6-3 final score in favour of the Badgers.
On Friday, the men were hosting their cross-town rivals, the Varsity Blues. The Lions began on the offensive as Sal Filice passed the puck to Scott Feser who beat the Varsity goalie just five minutes into the game.
After several unsuccessful shots on net, the Varsity Blues were able to even the score in the 16th minute of the first period, as Curtis Harvey found the twine, evening the score at 1-1.
The second and third periods were full of chances for both sides, but neither team was able to break the stalemate.
The game was finally decided in overtime as Scott Feser scored with two minutes left, earning the Lions a 2-1 victory, and local bragging rights.
The game featured an incredible 26 saves from York goalie, Mack Shields.
Before their game against the Badgers on Saturday, the Lions honoured the memory of Mark Cross, former Lions player and assistant coach of the Humboldt Broncos, who was one of the victims of the tragic bus crash that occurred last year. Cross became the first player in Lions’ history to have his jersey retired. Present at the emotional, pre-game ceremony were his family, friends, and former colleagues.
Just two minutes into the game, Brock found the back of the net, drawing first blood. The Lions, however, levelled the score halfway through the period on a power play, as Bradley Forrest snuck one past the Badgers goalie.
The Badgers retook the lead in the 16th minute of the second period. However, York quickly equalized as Nick Zottl responded a minute later, assisted by Josh LaFrance. Once again, the score was tied going into the third period.
The Badgers scored two goals, in the 1st and 11th minute, increasing their lead to 4-2. Unfortunately for the Lions, they were unable to even the score, as they fell to the Badgers 4-3.
This week, the men are on the road against Guelph tomorrow at 7:30 p.m., and Western on Saturday at 7 p.m. The women will visit Waterloo on Friday, and then return home to host the Laurier Golden Hawks on Saturday. The puck drops at 7 p.m. for both games.
