Picking up their first win of the regular season, the York University women's hockey team came away with a 5-3 victory over the No. 10 nationally-ranked Laurentian Voyageurs in a thrilling match-up on Saturday night (Oct.17).
 
Canlan Ice Sports was electric as both teams battled back and forth throughout the game to edge out the win.
 
First to open the scoring in the first period was York's fifth-year forward Sarai Whitty (Kingston, Ont.), who slammed the puck home for a 1-0 lead just six minutes in from Justine Treadwell's (Hunstville, Ont.) and Dana Somerville's (Hockley, Ont.) assists.
 
At 15:10, Laurentian was able to grab a tying goal to level the score to 1-1, but the Lions were quick to respond a few minutes later with a Rianna Langford (Collingwood, Ont.) goal that slid between the bars. Erin Locke (Toronto) claimed the assist for Lanford's finish and the Lions were up 2-1 to start the second period.
 
It was a high-scoring and nail-biting second period, but it seemed like the Lions were cleared from danger when second-year defender Jenna Gray (London, Ont.) hit the back of the net to increase the lead to 3-1 just 3:16 in. However, the Voyageurs didn't feel threatened from the two-goal deficit and were able to execute off of two chances in two minutes that leveled the score yet again to 3-3.
 
The Lions kept the Voyageurs on their toes as the puck skid quickly between the two teams. Midway through the second period, Somerville pounced off of a chance at 15:59 from a combination play between Treadwell and Whitty, and the Lions were back in the lead.
 
Then ensuring the 5-3 win and finishing the Voyageurs off was Locke, who buried the puck past Laurentian's goaltender with the help of Stephanie Dovaston (Unionville, Ont.) and Lauren Cavarzan (Hamilton, Ont.) at 16:39 for the final goal of the game.
 
The third period was scoreless for both teams as the Lions handed the Voyageurs their first loss of the season.
 
Next up for the Lions is an away fixture that will be played against the Waterloo Warriors on Sunday (Oct. 25) at 2:30pm.