The York University Lions men's hockey team was defeated by the Laurier Golden Hawks 5-3 in a home game on Thursday (Jan. 29) at Canlan Ice Sports.
 
Despite a goal in the third from Michael Santini (Woodbridge, Ont.) that tied the game 3-3, the Golden Hawks were able to score two late goals to secure the win. Laurier left wing Tyler Stothers played an outstanding game, scoring a hat trick.
 
The loss dropped the Lions to 9-13-2 on the season, and they are currently tied for sixth place in the OUA standings. However, they have just a one-point lead on the teams out of the playoffs. Laurier improved to 9-14-1 with the win, and is currently tied for eighth.
 
The Lions dominated the possession in the first period, but it was the Golden Hawks who found a break at 12:02 when Ryan Lopes took a shot at the net, but was denied by Chris Perugini (King City, Ont.). Stothers picked up the rebound and slid the puck underneath Perugini's legs, putting the Golden Hawks in the lead 1-0.
 
The Golden Hawks came charging again at 18:49 when Stothers challenged Perugini in a one-on-one battle and chipped it over his left shoulder, scoring a short-handed goal to give his team a 2-0 lead after one.
 
The second period proved to be an exciting one with a total of three goals scored. The Golden Hawks slithered in a goal just 49 seconds in when four of the Golden Hawks bombarded the Lions' defence and Zach Lorentz snuck the puck into the net to give Laurier a three-goal lead.
 
Less than two minutes later, Reid Jackman (Etobicoke, Ont.) sent the puck through Golden Hawks' goalie Vinny Merante's legs at 2:16 to cut the deficit to 3-1.
 
At the end of the period, the Lions rushed the Golden Hawks' net and continuously hounded Merante until Shayne Rover (Newmarket, Ont.) got a break and forced the puck into the net with a power play goal at 18:51, and the Lions trailed by just one heading into the intermission.
 
The third period only came to life in the last six minutes of play as the Lions showered the net with shots. At 15:59 one of Santini's shots finally reached the back of the net as he tied the game 3-3, with the hope of sending the game into overtime.
 
However, with less than two minutes remaining Stothers completed the hat trick and netted the winner by scoring a one-touch power-play goal from an assist by Derek Schoenmaker which put the Golden Hawks back into the lead.
 
They added an empty netter off the stick of Matt Dupont with seven seconds remaining to secure the win.
 
The next game for the Lions is on Saturday (Jan. 31) against the Windsor Lancers in Windsor, Ont., beginning at 7:30pm.