The York University Lions men's hockey team lost 2-1 to the Ryerson Rams in their final game of the regular season at Canlan Ice Sports on Sunday, Feb 10, which began with an on-ice ceremony honouring graduating players Josh LaFrance and Stefano Pezzetta.
 
The Rams overpowered the Lions in shots in the first period as they fired 18 while the Lions responded with ten of their own. The game remained scoreless for the first half of the period until the Rams were able to score at 10:54 on a goal by John Carpino. Ryerson, who had a fast-paced start, remained in the Lions end of the rink for much of the first half of the first period, but Lions goaltender Alex Fotinos did not allow them to extend their lead.
 
The Rams finished the period ahead of the Lions by a score of 1-0.
 
In the second period, York's Reid Jackman almost provided York with their first goal as he fired the puck at the Rams' net and it trickled past the Rams netminder Taylor Dupuis. This resulted in a moment of confusion for Dupuis who had not realized the puck was behind him, however, he was able to save it before the Lions could nudge the puck past the goal line.
 
The Rams were able to score a second goal before the Lions arrived on the scoreboard at 9:25 when Carpino scored his second goal of the game. York, however, was able to respond at 10:15 with their first goal of the game courtesy of Peter De Coppi, which was assisted by Jack Goranson and Mark Wilson. This quick response from the Lions brought the crowd to a resounding roar and cut their deficit to 2-1.
 
The second period saw another close call from the Rams, however, it was waived off by the refs and the score remained 2-1. Fotinos was able to save another goal from the Rams as Ryerson's Jesse Barwell charged towards York's net and attempted to score but Fotinos made a highlight-reel save. The second period ended with the Rams continuing their 2-1 lead.
 
In the third period of the game, neither team was able to score against one another. The Rams were able to get 12 shots-on-goal in the third, all of which were saved by Fotinos. The Lions were able to shoot nine shots-on-goal, however, none found the back of the net and the Lions fell by score of 2-1.  
 
Fotinos had his best game of the regular season with 49 saves while Ryerson's Dupuis countered with 23 saves in the win.
 
With the loss the Lions end the regular season in seventh place in the OUA West standings and will be back on the ice this week for the first round of the playoffs. The schedule for the first round of the playoffs will be announced soon.