The York University Lions men's hockey team narrowly lost to the No. 10 nationally-ranked Western Mustangs 3-2 in overtime on Friday (Jan. 16) in London, Ont.
 
Cody Brown scored the winning goal just over a minute into the overtime. Stefan Salituro provided the assist.
 
The winner came after the Mustangs coughed up a two-goal lead in the final two minutes of the game. The visitors were trailing by 2-0 at the start of the third period, but late goals by Jordan Forfar (Sutton, Ont.) and Michael Santini (Woodbridge, Ont.) forced the game to overtime and earned the Lions a crucial point in the OUA West standings.
 
They are now 8-10-2 on the year and tied for sixth spot with the Lakehead Thunderwolves.
 
The Mustangs took the lead in the first period through Colten Mayor during a power play at 15:48. The home team extended the gap through another power play goal by Salituro at 16:03 of the second frame.
 
At the final minutes of the last period, the Lions made a shocking comeback. Derek Sheppard (Ajax, Ont.) found Forfar, who pulled a goal back for the team at 18:19.
 
With seconds left before the final buzzer, Santini scored the dramatic equalizer with nine seconds remaining on the game. Colton Vannucci (Calgary) and Tyler McGee (Timmins, Ont.) assisted the goal. Santini scored his ninth goal of the season.
 
Unfortunately for the Lions, the Mustangs found the tie-breaker at 1:07 of the overtime.
 
Lions goaltender Chris Perugini (King City, Ont.) stopped 39 shot attempts while his counterpart Marc Nother saved 41.
 
The Lions will be looking to improve their record against the Guelph Gryphons on Saturday (Jan. 17) at Canlan Ice Sports beginning at 7pm.