After dropping their season opener to the Windsor Lancers on Sunday, the York University Lions men's hockey team travelled to Waterloo on Thursday night looking to get back on track and slow down the Laurier Golden Hawks, who had gotten out to a 2-0 start on the season. The Lions looked to get their offence going early, after only managing one goal in their opener.
Goaltender Matt Tovell – making his first start of the season – kept the Lions in the game early, making a beautiful sprawling save across the crease and robbing Lucas Chard. However, Chard would atone for his miss just beyond the halfway mark of the period, as he took a centring pass along in front and fired a top-shelf wrister past Tovell to put his team up 1-0.
York was able to draw scoring chances of their own, including a three-on-one rush and multiple rebound chances, as well as a post from Oliver Lamothe. However, they were unable to beat Tristan Malboeuf in net for Laurier in the opening period despite mustering 12 shots. Moments after killing off a penalty, Max-Antoine Melancon weaved up the ice from his own end, and fired it past Tovell to give Laurier a 2-0 lead after one.
The Lions went on the power play early in the second, but could not convert. Play began to tighten up, as the game became more chippy and physical. Tovell and Malboeuf both remained sharp in net for their respective sides for the majority of the period. However, Laurier struck again late in the period, when Justin O'Donnell stripped Logan Holm of the puck behind the net, came out and fired it bar-down on Tovell. That pushed the lead to 3-0, which remained the score after two, with the Lions looking to rally in the final frame.
The Lions continued generating chances in the third, but simply could not convert early in the third. Laurier went on another power play and took a 4-0 lead on Melancon's second goal of the game, potting his own rebound after driving hard to the net. With three minutes left, the Lions finally managed to get on a board, as a pass from Keeton Oakley was eventually put home by Owen Gilhula, breaking up Malboeuf's shutout and trimming the lead to 4-1. They added another two minutes later on a power play, as a shot fired in from the point by Hunter Brown was tipped by Lamothe in front of the net over the shoulder of Malboeuf. However, the quick burst was for naught, as the Lions dropped this one by a 4-2 count.
LOOKING AHEAD:
The Lions will now get ready for their home opener against their in-city rival Toronto Varsity Blues on Saturday at 12:00 pm from Canlan Ice Sports. You can get your tickets here or stream the game on OUA.tv.
