The York University Lions men's hockey team was defeated by the Brock Badgers by a score of 3-1 on Saturday (Oct. 18) at Canlan Ice Sports.
 
The Lions had a slow start to the first period despite having 10 shots on the goal.
 
The Badgers broke the deadlock at 13:31 through a Sammy Banga goal. The Badgers were hovering over the Lions' defensive line during the power play and after a series of passing, Banga found the breakthrough.
 
Both teams livened up as soon as the game restarted in the second period, constantly pressing on the defence.
 
The Badgers looked dangerous at the start of the second frame. Nine minutes in, Lions goaltender Chris Perugini (King City, Ont.) ricocheted a powerful attempt from the left. The deflection fell to Andrew Radjenovic, who released a venomous shot that landed in Perugini's gloves.
 
Jeremie Perron (Calgary) had the best shot of the period after coming out of the penalty box. Perron received the pass and aimed it at the top corner of the net, but Badgers goalie Adrian Volpe was there to make the save.
 
Rookie forward Colton Vannucci (Calgary) scored the equalizer for the Lions with 4:01 left in the second period. Trevor Petersen (Thornhill, Ont.) found Vannucci on the right, who slipped the puck past the goalie's legs and into the net. Peterson and defender Shayne Rover (Newmarket, Ont.) were credited with the assists.
 
Right before the intermission, Badgers right winger Kaine Geldart came close to scoring after going around the net and attempting to slip the puck into the goal. Perugini dove to get on top of it just before it crossed over the line.
 
The third period tightened the deadlock between the two teams. Both goalies were equally challenged by the other teams' offence. Mark Cross (Strasbourg, Sask.) intercepted a pass in midfield eight minutes through the period. Three defenders were marking the forward before Cross attempted a shot that was caught by the goalie.
 
With 5:19 to go on the final period, the Badgers snatched the game-winning goal by Gregory Jambrosich on the counter-attack. The Badgers caught the Lions off-guard before they could transition to defence.
 
Jambrosich grabbed another goal after a defensive error on the Lions' part. A miscommunication led the defender to pass to an approaching Jambrosich, who capitalized on the mistake and scored the third goal for the Badgers with less than three minutes left on the clock.
 
Perugini ended the game with 39 saves while his counterpart, Volpe, made 30. Both goaltenders played the whole three periods.
 
With this loss, the Lions take their record to 2-4-0 in the OUA West standings. Up next, the Lions will be hosting the Concordia Stingers at home on Friday (Oct. 24) beginning at 7pm.