The York University men's hockey beat the University of Toronto Varsity Blues 2-1 in their first game of the regular season on Wednesday at Canlan Ice Sports.  
 
The game was action-packed as soon as the puck dropped in the inaugural game of the 2018 season. York's goalie Mark Shields was remarkable throughout the game as he saved 38 out of 39 of U of T shots.
 
The first period of the game saw zero goals from either the Lions or the Blues. U of T controlled the action in the first period as they shot 15 times against York's net throughout the first 20 minutes, however, Shields was able to stop all of U of T's shots. The Lions had six through the first period and while both teams had good chances, neither team could find the back of the net.
 
The game turned around in the second period when York's Sal Filice scored the first goal of the game as he fired a shot inside the left post, giving York a 1-0 lead against their cross-town rivals. The Blues almost responded to York's goal when only two minutes after York's goal U of T had three good chances to score but once again were stoned by Shields.
 
York scored the second goal of the game in the second period with just 26 seconds left as forward Nik Coric scored with an assist by forward Daniel Nikandrov and defenseman Sal Filice.
 
U of T was finally able to respond to York's two goals in the third period of the game as John Hanson scored for the Blues to cut the lead to 2-1
 
The remainder of the period saw the Blues attempting to score against York's net in order to try and tie the game however, the Lions kept the puck out of the net. Forward Stefano Pezzetta had two key blocked shots in the final seconds to help secure the victory.
 
The Lions play their second game of the OUA regular season against the Brock Badgers in St.Catharines, Ont. on Friday, Oct. 12.