The York University Lions men's hockey team topped the OUA East division-leading UQTR Patriotes by a score of 5-4 after a thrilling match between the two teams at Canlan Ice Sports on Saturday (Oct. 25).
 
The Patriotes came into this match with five wins and no losses, but the Lions snapped that streak with an impressive display on the rink.
 
The Lions' victory was inspired by a tremendous performance by rookie defender Derek Sheppard (Ajax, Ont.), who was involved in three of the goals, scoring two of them himself.
 
Five minutes into the game, Lions goaltender Chris Perugini (King City, Ont.) dove for a stray puck that would have otherwise been converted to a goal.
 
At 7:59, Adam Logozzo (Woodbridge, Ont.) opened the scoring after receiving a pass from Sheppard and firing past the goalie. Sheppard and Tyler Mort (Keswick, Ont.) were credited with the assists.
 
With 8:36 left to play, the Patriotes forced an equalizer through Thomas Martin after Felix Plouffe sent the goalie scrambling.
 
Three minutes later, the Lions responded with a goal from Sheppard, who slid past defenders and scored a solo goal to restore the team's lead.
 
Just before the end of the frame, Patriotes forward Marc-Olivier Mimar scored a similar goal to their previous one. The attackers had Perugini and defenders scrambling as they capitalized with another equalizer amidst the confusion.
 
The Patriotes dominated the attack during a power play at the last minute. Perugini saved a dangerous shot before the whistle blew, signalling the end to an exciting first period that had the score at 2-2.
 
Five minutes into the second period, the home team increased the pressure on their offence. However, their chances were compromised due to player penalties.
 
Dylan Smoskowitz (Richmond Hill, Ont.) took advantage of the power play eight minutes in by taking the lead once more. The goal was a result of a good team effort from Michael Santini (Woodbridge, Ont.) and Mort, who were credited with the assists.
 
Santini bagged a goal of his own with 6:32 left to play in the period. Paul Sohor (East St. Paul, Man.) released a long pass from the defensive half which found Smoskowitz, who provided the pass for Santini to tap into the goal.
 
The Patriotes responded with a goal of their own at 15:21 through Martin, his second of the night. The team diligently kept possession in the build-up that resulted in the goal.
 
Sheppard continued to perform on the ice, passing through three defenders and releasing a shot that went barely wide.
 
Rookie forward Colton Vannucci (Calgary) hustled for the puck during the power play at 17:40. A defender came to intercept, but Trevor Petersen (Thornhill, Ont.) interfered to recover the team's possession. The puck fell to Vannucci, who sent the puck to the centre for Sheppard to convert to make the score 5-3 in favour of the home team.
 
The Patriotes thought they scored a fourth just when the buzzer sounded, but the referees conferred and the goal was disallowed, leaving the Patriotes trailing by two at the end of the second frame.
 
At 8:50 of the final period, the Patriotes scored again to keep the game alive. Patriotes forward Tommy Giroux received a pass from Tommy Tremblay and fired it towards the net. Perugini got a slight touch to it but was not able to keep it out of the goal.
 
The final three minutes of the game saw both teams trying to score on each other as the puck traveled from end to end. The Patriotes were unable to find an equalizer as Perugini remained steadfast in his post to secure the win.
 
The Lions will continue competition against the OUA East next week when they head out on the road for a game against the McGill Redmen in Montreal on Saturday (Nov. 1) at 7pm. 

In case you missed it last night, the men's hockey team had a huge bounce back win over CIS No. 4 UQTR! ?? yorku lionpride yorklions hockeynight hockey hometownhockey

A photo posted by York Lions (@yorkulions) on Oct 10, 2014 at 7:05am PDT