Benjamin Evanish broke a tie early in the third period, helping the York University Lions men's hockey team to a win over the No. 1 seeded Windsor Lancers in their OUA West quarterfinal Wednesday evening in Windsor, Ont.
The win gives York their first victory over a nationally ranked opponent this season — Windsor was No. 9 entering the contest.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The game began with some Cole Ceci saves — he made 16 of them in the first period to keep the game scoreless until the later stages of the first period.
- Braydon Buziak kicked off the scoring for York at 16:01, wiring a wrist shot off the post and in. Lucas Breault and Brendan Browne drew assists, after Breault stepped around a defender and slid a pass over to Buziak.
- Breault then got in on the scoring himself, making it 2-0 at 7:34 of the second period after gathering a rebound on a Michael Mannara shot.
- Windsor would score two to tie the game up, including a Sean Olson tally just eight seconds into the third period, but the Lions had an answer.
- Evanish added his first of the playoffs and team-leading ninth goal of the season, sneaking into an open area of the Lancers and and one-timing a Brock McLeod pass past Windsor goalie Nathan Torchia at 5:37 of the third.
- York then iced the game with an empty net goal at 18:15, off the stick of McLeod.
NOTABLE NUMBERS
- The Lions penalty kill went to work in this contest, staying perfect by killing off four of the five Windsor power plays. The Lancers had the bulk of the power plays in the game — the Lions only enjoyed one power play.
- Ceci stood tall in the Lions net, making several acrobatic stops en route to a 28-save performance.
LOOKING AHEAD
The Lions will now move to the second round of the playoffs, the OUA West semifinal, and face the Brock Badgers at a date and time to be determined. Brock, seeded fifth in the OUA West, knocked off the Laurier Golden Hawks 5-2 in their Wednesday evening quarterfinal.
