The York University Lions men's hockey team was defeated by the OUA-leading Windsor Lancers 3-1 in the team's annual ALS Awareness Game on Saturday (Nov. 29) at Canlan Ice Sports.
 
Lancers rookie defender JC Houde opened the scoring in less than a minute of play. The Lions were caught off-guard during the defensive transition. The goal was assisted by Dylan Palmer and Dylan Denomme.
 
Six minutes in, Shayne Rover (Newmarket, Ont.) shot a powerful attempt that goaltender Taylor Speed could only deflect.
 
The Lions kept up the pressure for the rest of the period. Kyle Campbell (Halifax, N.S.) had a one-on-one opportunity but his shot was safely held by Speed.
 
The pressure paid off with 3:14 remainingw hen the Lions scored on the power play through an excellent team effort. Michael Santini (Woodbridge, Ont.) gave the Lions the equalizer, while Derek Sheppard (Ajax, Ont.) and Mitch VanTeeling (Brandon, Man.) earned assists on the play.
 
Lions' goaltender Chris Perugini (King City, Ont.) made a vital save with two minutes left to play. His post was congested with players from both teams attempting to win the puck, but he dove to his left to deflect an open shot on target.
 
The score was tied 1-1 heading into the first intermission.
 
The second period proved to be more intense as both teams had moments of a two-man advantage and the Lions saw two of their players sent out for misconduct. The home team remained on the offensive despite the penalties.
 
With 10 minutes gone, the two Lancers players were penalized but they survived a flurry of shots by the Lions as the game remained deadlocked at ones.
 
It was less than five minutes before the final intermission when the Lions killed the double penalty. Their survival was short-lived, however, as Denomme converted a pass from Palmer to give the visitors the 2-1 lead seconds before the second intermission.
 
The Lancers continued to search for a goal to secure their lead. Blake Blondeel gave them the third goal after several attempts in stabbing the puck over the line at 6:21. Mike Christou and Julian Luciani were credited with the assists.
 
Perugini was excellent in front of the goal, stopping 40 shots despite the loss. Speed made 24 saves. 
 
Despite putting on an impressive display throughout the period, the Lions were unable to find another goal. They dropped to 6-11-0 with the loss, while the Lancers improved their OUA best record to 14-1-1 with the win.
 
The Lions' are now done for the fall semester, and their first game of the new year will be against the Queen's Gaels on Friday (Jan. 9) at 7pm in Canlan Ice Sports.