Emily Goodwin | Editor-in-Chief
Featured Image: Becky Higgs (right) takes a shot on net during Saturday’s game. | Courtesy of Jojo Yanjiao Qian/York Lions
The Lions women’s hockey team has had mixed success in the 2020 season. In their first game back against the Waterloo Warriors, they easily defeated them 2-0. When the Lions took on the Varsity Blues this past weekend though, they lost by the same margin.
The Warriors — who had beat the Lions 4-1 in their contest back in November — struggling to contain the Lions, would opened the scoring in the first period. Kara Washer scored halfway through the first period, with Rebecca Lopes assisting.
After a scoreless second period, the Lions added a second goal. This time, Washer assisted Tayler Murphy with what would be the final goal of the game. Lions goaltender Lauren Dubie finished the game with a clean sheet.
A week later, the Lions hosted the Varsity Blues at Canlan Ice Sports. The Blues had also won their last contest, and proved to be just as strong as that last game. After an almost scoreless first period, Mathilde De Serres got the puck past Dubie to put the Varsity Blues up 1-0. Natasha Athanasakos and Gabrielle De Serres recorded assists on this goal.
The second period remained scoreless, though there were plenty of power play opportunities for both sides to capitalize on.
In the third period, the Lions outshot the Varsity Blues 12-8, but could not get anything past their goalie. As the game entered the final minute of play, Athanasakos scored on an empty Lions net with the help of Jana Headrick. This closed out the game 2-0 for the Varsity Blues.
Despite this most recent loss, the Lions remain strong in the OUA standings. They are currently in second, only behind the Varsity Blues by three points.
The Lions will be on the road for their next three games, taking on UOIT, Queen’s, and Guelph. They will return to home ice on Saturday, January 25 at 2:15 p.m. to host the Brock Badgers.
