The York University Lions men's soccer team posted a pair of shutout victories over the Algoma Thunderbirds on opening weekend of the 2016 season at Superior Heights Field in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.
 
The squad began the year with a 7-0 win on Saturday afternoon. The game was close in the first half, with the only tally on the scoreboard coming from an own goal by Algoma that gave the Lions a 1-0 lead.
 
The visitors turned it on in the second half, however. Ryan Telfer (Mississauga, Ont.) scored the first of his two goals in the 55^th minute and he was quickly followed by Jonathan Lao (Unionville, Ont.) in the 61^st minute for a 3-0 lead.
 
Rookies Milan Beader (Oakville, Ont.) and Josh Kiselyov (Maple, Ont.) each netted their first career goals just one minute apart in the 78^th and 79^th minutes, and Maurizio Ragone (North York, Ont.) added his first in the 84^th minute.
 
Telfer rounded out the scoring in the 88^th minute with his second of the game.
 
Andrew D'Souza (Mississauga, Ont.) earned the start in net and posted the clean sheet for the victory.
 
The next day, the two teams played a tighter contest that saw the Lions win by a 4-0 score, with two goals each in the first and second halves. Telfer again opened the scoring, this time finding the back of the net in the 16^th minute for a 1-0 lead. Cristian Cavallini (Woodbridge, Ont.), who assisted on Telfer's goal, scored one of his own in the 35^th minute to give the Lions a 2-0 advantage heading into the break.
 
In the second half, rookie Austin McGlashan (Mississauga, Ont.) scored in the 62^nd minute and Pierre Grenier (Paris) in the 70^th minute for the team's other two tallies.
 
Goalkeeper Daniel Gosciniak (Mississauga, Ont.) made three saves in net for the win.
 
The Lions will be back at home this weekend when they host the Laurier Golden Hawks at Alumni Field on Saturday (Sept. 3) in a game beginning at 3:15pm.