Earning their way back into the OUA playoffs for the first time since 2020, the York University Lions women's hockey team faces off against the OUA West winning Nipissing Lakers.

Making a strong push in the second-half of their season, the Lions made their mark with two victories against the Lakers, one at home and one on the road, while pushing two games into overtime. Meeting again just three weeks after their last encounter, in a best two-of-three series, the Lions are laying everything on the line.

"It is a great accomplishment to make the playoffs and a privilege to play one of the best teams in the country. We know that Nipissing are a really talented team and offensively gifted," said head coach Dan Church. "We've been successful when we've competed hard and paid attention to defensive details. If we do those things in the series, we will give ourselves a good chance."

Coming in as the underdog team with a 9-19 season record, facing the Lakers who lead the OUA West with a 22-6 record, York handed Nipissing two of their losses. The first was at Canlan Ice Sports on Jan. 14 in a decisive 3-1 victory, thanks to Kaitlin Teixeira, Jillian Milligan and Julianna Duma, while Emma Wedgewood had an 82 save weekend, earning her OUA and U SPORTS Female Player of the week accolades.

The Lions took their next victory on Feb. 3 in North Bay, pushing the game to overtime after 60 minutes of play ended 0-0. Wedgewood's 27 save shutout night elevated the Lions to a 1-0 win as Alexa Giantsopoulos put the game away just 2:32 into overtime. 

"I think we are looking forward to the challenge of being an underdog. We want that challenge! Playoff hockey is all about embracing the challenge. I can't wait to see the players performing in these meaningful games," said Church.

Giantsopoulos has stepped up big this season, leading the Lions with 10 goals and 16 points, scoring two game winning goals. Followed closely by Taylor Coward who leads the Lions with 11 assists, and has tallied two goals for 13 points on the season. First-year, Kaitlin Teixeira has been a great addition to the lineup this year, leading OUA rookies with 13 points (six goals, seven assists), while scoring two game winning goals. 

The Lions have a quick turnaround, playing the first quarter final game on Wednesday in North Bay, before heading back to Toronto for game two, Friday morning. Being well prepared for quick back-to-back games with the OUA scheduling, the Lions are well versed in playing on the road. 

"We're used to travelling up and down highway 400. We've faced some adversity in our travel and schedule too which has helped us build some great resiliency too. We also have been smart about how we schedule the day-to-day functions of our team. We have great support from our IST with S&C coach Emerson Morassutti and AT Tracy Meloche and student AT's, Maddie Scola and Aaron Cooper, making sure we're physically prepared. I think we're right where we need to be heading into the playoffs."

The Lions have pushed themselves all season, getting themselves to be in a playoff position, and being right where they deserve to be. 

All playoff action begins Wednesday, Feb. 21 with puck drop set for 7:00pm in North Bay. The game will be streamed live on OUA.tv.