The York University Lions men's hockey team was defeated by the Laurier Golden Hawks 5-2 on Friday night (Dec. 4) at Canlan Ice Sports.
 
Mitch VanTeeling (Brandon, Man.) scored both goals on Friday in the loss. VanTeeling now has four points in the past two games and a season total of 10 points. 
 
The strong goaltending from Laurier Golden Hawk Vinny Merante proved to be the difference in the game as Merante turned aside 33 shots in the win.
 
The first period began with the Lions on the attack and firing from all angles, but Mernate shut the door on multiple early scoring chances. Just over five minutes into the opening frame and on the power play, a bouncing puck found its way into the slot and Laurier forward Derek Schoenmakers wired it past Chris Perugini (King city, Ont.) high glove to take the early lead.
 
After the Laurier tally the Lions were relentless in the attacking zone and they eventually managed to beat Merante with a Julien Lepage (Baie-Comeau, Que.) shot from the point that was kicked out but found the stick of VanTeeling that he poked through Merante's five-hole to tie the game at 1-1.
 
The second period was completely dominated by the Golden Hawks as they beat Perugini three times. The first goal came with just under three minutes into the period as an odd angle shot by Erik Pushka squeaked through Perugini short side, handing the lead back to the Golden Hawks.
 
Seven minutes after the second goal Pushka was back at it as he finished off a remarkable play from Christian Mroczkowski. The play began with Mroczkowski taking the puck into the Lions zone and dancing around multiple defenders, then waiting out Perugini until he found an opening to slide the puck over to Pushka for the easy tap in.
 
Late in the second period the Golden Hawks added another goal, this time it was a result of a giveaway that led to a 3-on-1 going back the other way, Will Cook chose not to pass to either of his teammates and fired a snap shot top left corner, making the game 4-1 for the Golden Hawks going into the third period.
 
In the third the Lions came out of the gates with intensity and it proved pay dividends as they cut the game in half with VanTeeling's second score on the night. The goal was scored from a point shot from Tyler Mort (Keswick, Ont.) that hit a pack of Lions in front of the net and eventually found its way to VanTeeling, who potted the loose puck.
 
The late resurgence of the Lions fell short as the Golden Hawks capped off the night with an empty net goal with seconds remaining to give the Lions their third loss of the season. The CIS 10^th-ranked lions fall to 9-4-3 on the season while  the Golden Hawks improved to 7-8-0.
 
The Lions will be back on the ice on Saturday (Dec. 5) when they welcome the Lakehead Thunderwolves to Canlan Ice Sports for the last game of 2015. Puck drop is at 7pm.