The York University Lions field hockey team will appear on the national stage for the first time in a decade this week when they battle for gold at the U SPORTS championships in Vancouver.
 
Making their first appearance since 2007, the Lions will face the UBC Thunderbirds in a best-of-three series as part of a new format for the championship this year. Game 1 is scheduled for Friday at 6pm PT (9pm ET), and Game 2 will take place the following day at 5pm PT (8pm ET). Should a third game be necessary, it will happen on Sunday at 2pm PT (5pm ET).
 
The Lions will have their hands full with a talented Thunderbirds squad that is seeking its seventh straight McCrae Cup and 19^th overall in program history. York has never won the national championship, coming close on six occasions with silver medals in 1979-80, 1984, 1986, 1989 and 1994.
 
The Lions earned their berth at the national tournament thanks to their first OUA title since 1996, which they won on Sunday on home turf with a thrilling 3-2 victory over the Guelph Gryphons. The banner capped off a tremendous season in which the Lions went 11-1 and outscored their opponents 51-6. Their improvement from last year is remarkable, as they won four more games and accumulated nine more points to finish atop the regular season standings for the first time since 1994. They led the conference in goals for and goals against, and compared to last year they scored 25 more goals and allowed five fewer.
 
York was led in scoring by rookie phenom Jaslan Stirling, who put up 19 goals in just 12 games to lead all players in the country. She was one of four first-year players to finish among the OUA's top 20 in scoring. Madison Mitchell and Frankie St. Louis tied for eighth with five goals each and Amira Brar scored three. Also impressing offensively was Montana Merante, who is in her debut season with the Lions and tied for fourth in conference scoring with six goals.
 
UBC went undefeated in 2017, scoring 22 goals while allowing just five to be crowned Canada West champions for the 10^th time in the last 11 seasons. Their nation-leading defence is backstopped by Canada West player of the year Rowan Harris. In the field, the Thunderbirds boast a high-powered offence led by Margaret Pham and Meghan Hayden, who both tallied five goals, the most in the conference.
 
All three games will be played at UBC's Wright Field in Vancouver and can be seen live online on http://sportscanada.tv/usports/.