The York University Lions men's hockey team traveled to Guelph to face the Gryphons on Thursday night at the Sleeman Centre in Guelph in the 15th annual Frosty Mug, an annual Gryhpons home game at the home of the OHL's Guelph Storm. The Lions were making their second appearance in the Frosty Mug, having won the event's fifth iteration by a 2-1 count back on Jan. 18, 2014. 

The Lions came into this game 2-3 since their return to the ice from the exam break, and were looking to build upon a 3-1 victory over the RMC Paladins on Sunday. 

The action was fast-paced to open the game, with both teams having several close goals. York struck first, however, 10:08. Lucas Theriault found Owen Gilhula on a 2-on-1 and Gilhula skated in and fired a shot that ramped up off the shaft of the Guelph defender's stick and past Colton Incze to give the Lions a 1-0 lead on his third of the season. 

The Lions would score again just 39 seconds later, when Cole Beamin ventured deep into the corner and hit Brock McLeod at the top of the circle. McLeod's walked in and wired one past Incze  to increase the visitors' advantage to 2-0. The Lions would maintain that two-goal lead through 20.  

It didn't take the Lions long to add to their lead in the middle frame, scoring nineteen seconds into the second period. The goal came off the stick of Thomas Lacombe, who was gifted with an open net after Olivier Lamothe beat out an icing and Incze misplayed the puck. Lacombe deposited the loose disc into the yawning cage to increase York's lead to 3-0. 

An interference penalty assessed to Guelph's Ethan Doyle gave York a late-second-period man advantage. The Lions would make good on their power-play opportunity just six seconds into it, as Sandhu reached in to win a scrambled draw and dropped it back to Gilhula. His point shot was beautifully re-directed home by Theriault, as those two connected for a second time to expand the Lions lead to 4-0 heading into the third on Theriault's fifth, to co-lead the Lions.  

The home team finally got on the board 48 seconds into the third frame. Nolan DeGurse dished the puck to Nathan Allensen at the top of zone and Allensen fired a slapshot that made it past Carter Serhyenko to make it 4-1 York. 

Guelph continued to rally, scoring two goals less than two minutes apart. The first came at the 4:00 mark, when Giorando Biondi fired one from the left corner that escaped the grasp of Serhyenko to cut the lead in half. Then, Griffith Wilson cashed in off a centring pass from DeGurse. That made it a one-goal game with still 14:14 remaining. 

The Gryphons made a valiant effort to find the equalizer in front of their raucous home crowd, a sellout of 4,942. However, Serhyneko and the Lions held strong to walk away with the 4-3 victory and their second Frosty Mug trophy.

LOOKING AHEAD: 

The Lions host the UQTR Patriotes in the 5th annual Mark Cross Memorial Game on Saturday. Puck drop is scheduled for 3:15 pm