Following a strong come-from-behind home win against the Carleton Ravens Saturday night, the York University Lions men's hockey team travelled to the nation's capital to take on the Ottawa Gee-Gees in a Super Bowl Sunday matinee. With Ottawa coming off a loss to Western on Friday, York was looking to win their second straight game and sixth since the don of the new year.
In a chippy first period, the Lions went on a power play eight minutes in, but could not find the opening goal on it. After some extended offensive zone time by Ottawa, the Lions finally got a chance off a breakaway from forward Mason Svarich, playing in his first game since Jan 19, off a beautiful lead pass from defenseman Bryan McAndrews. Svarich broke in on Ottawa netminder Zach Dietz and put it top shelf past the Gee-Gee goaltender to give gave the Lions a 1-0 lead after one.
After McAndrews took a penalty in the dying seconds of the first, the Gee-Gees started the second on their first power play, but the Lions killed it off with ease. Minutes later, an Anson McMaster one-timer from the point was tipped in front and rang off the iron, inches away from tying the game. Shortly after, the Lions had another breakaway, this time thanks to Marcus Regina, another Lion returning to the fold after an extended absence, but Dietz was equal to the task this time, stopping the Lions from opening up a 2-0 lead. Ottawa then went on another power play, which is where their persistence ultimately paid off, as left winger Mathieu Desgagnes fired a shot from the top of the left circle that beat Carter Serhyenko over the shoulder to tie the game at 1-1. Moments later, the Lions went back to the box, and Ottawa once again captialized. Some crisp puck movement by Ottawa ended up with Marc-Antoine Seguin fired a puck through traffic from the right circle and past the Lions goaltender and in again, quickly putting the Gee-Gees up 2-1 on the legs of two goals in 90 seconds. The Gee-Gees went to another power play late in the second, but the Lions were able to kill it off and minimize the damage, down 2-1 after two.
The Lions finally got another power play of their own two minutes into the final frame, but could not take advantage of the opportunity to tie it despite having multiple shots on net. The Lions had a couple shorthanded chances on an Ottawa power play had multiple chances, including a partial breakaway for Thomas Lacombe, but still could not find the equalizer. Serhyenko made a number of sharp saves as time wound down, but a loose puck in front off a Peter Stratis point shot led to a tap-in from Ottawa's Mitch Martin that widened the gap to 3-1. The Gee-Gees controlled the majority of puck possession from that point on, and secured the two-goal victory.
LOOKING AHEAD:
The Lions will host the Concordia Stingers on Friday night in the penultimate game of the regular season, before hosting the McGill Redbirds on Saturday on senior's day at Canlan Ice Sports. Friday's game begins at 7:15 pm, with puck drop Saturday slated for 3:15 pm.
