The York University men's hockey team were defeated 2-1 in Game 1 of the first round of the OUA playoffs against the Brock Badgers on Wednesday evening at Seymour-Hannah Centre in St. Catharines, Ont.
 
With the win the Badgers took the upper hand in the best-out-of-three series. The Lions played the Badgers previously on Feb. 9 and fell in a high-scoring affair 5-1. Despite the previous big win by the Badgers, this game was close throughout and could have gone either way.  
 
The Badgers got on the scoreboard first, scoring in the first period at 7:12 with a goal by Jared Marino, who was assisted by teammates Adam Berg and Jake Ringuette. The Lions put up a total of 10 shots on goal, however were unable to find the back of the net.
 
The Lions managed to tie the game, at 7:05 of the second period, when Justin Maiolino, who was assisted by Nik Coric and Nik Malencia, was able to get a shot by Brock's goaltender, Logan Thompson. The Badgers were quick to reclaim their lead when Tyler Rollo, assisted by Skylar Pacheco and Ryan Burton, scored less than two minutes later, at 8:54. The second period ended with the Badgers leading the Lions 2-1.
 
During the third period, the Lions put up another 13 shots on goal, while the Badgers only had 7. Neither team was able to score another goal, allowing the Badgers to maintain their 2-1 lead and win the first game out of three against the Lions. Alex Fotinos had a total of 28 saves in the loss for the Lions, while Thompson came away with 33 for the Badgers.
 
The Lions will be playing the Badgers in Game 2 on Friday, Feb. 15 at Canlan Ice Sports. Puck-drop is scheduled for 7pm.