The No. 9 nationally ranked York University Lions women's hockey team triumphed over the Ryerson Rams by a score of 3-0 on Saturday, earning their second straight shutout and fifth consecutive victory.
 
The Lions improved to 5-1 with the win and defeated the Rams for the third time this season after two victories in the pre-season.
 
The Lions took the Rams by surprise and came out hard in the opening minutes of the first period. Their hard work paid off as they cracked the scoreboard in the first four minutes of the game. Forward Courtney Gardiner scored the opening goal at 3:28 assisted by Taylor Davison.
 
The Lions continued to put pressure on the Rams as they scored two more goals in a four-minute span and just minutes after the first. At 5:01, defender Ava Ricker-Singh scored her first goal of the season assisted by Julia McLennan and Kara Washer for a 2-0 lead.
 
Then a goal from forward Brooke Anderson at 8:51 assisted by Washer and Taylor Coward made the score 3-0. The Lions played strong defence with the help of goalie Julianna Thomson to keep the Rams goalless in the first period.
 
The second period commenced and the Lions came out as hard as they did in the first. The Lions gained a powerplay early in the period and aimed to take every advantage of having the extra player on the ice but could not find the net. The Rams had a nice shot on net, which was easily saved from Thomson. Later on, the Rams had a strong push which the Lions defence quickly extinguished.
 
The Lions kept the puck in the Rams end for the majority of the period and had many great attempts on goal. McLennan was looking for her second goal of the game, but the Rams defence blocked it. Following that, the Lions had another offensive attack which resulted in a shot on net from Davison that was once again saved from Ryerson goalie Fanny Vigeant.
 
Towards the end of the second period the Rams had a strong offensive push and had a great shot on net. Thomson saved it, but she gave a rebound which caused both teams to fight for the puck in front of the net.
 
Later on, the Rams Keelin Farren had a great shot on net that just went wide following another shot from Rams Alexia Ursua, who barely missed the goal. Although the Rams had fantastic shots on net, the Lions came back with attempts of their own. Washer dangled the defence and had a strong shot on target, but it was saved by the Vigeant. Neither team was able to find the back of the net in the second period ending it with the Lions still leading with a score of 3-0.
 
In the third, the Lions strived to keep the Rams at bay as they were playing in defensive mode, but that didn't stop them from having high chances to add more goals to the board. Washer had another remarkable chance but it went high, and then Coward had a breakaway that was also turned away. Like the second period, the third remained goalless. Thomson had a fantastic game to earn the shutout, her first in the season.
 
The Lions play their next game away at the Sun Life Financial Arena in Waterloo, Ont., against the Laurier Golden Hawks at 7:07pm.