Lions defeat Gryphons, move into first in OUA West
The York University Lions men's hockey team used a huge second period by its offensive attack to record a 3-1 victory over the visiting Guelph Gryphons at Canlan Ice Sports in a rare Sunday afternoon affair.
The York University Lions men's hockey team used a huge second period by its offensive attack to record a 3-1 victory over the visiting Guelph Gryphons at Canlan Ice Sports in a rare Sunday afternoon affair.
With the victory the Lions moved to 13-5-2 on the season and took over first place in the OUA West Division with 28 points, one more than the Ryerson Rams. The Gryphons slipped to 10-8-0 with the loss.
After a scoreless first period, Steven Janes (Etobicoke, Ont.) lit up the scoreboard for the first time in the game at the 9:39 mark of the second after a deadly wrist shot hit the top right shelf from the left slot. Shayne Rover (Newmarket, Ont.) was credited with the assist.
Not long after Janes' snipe, Nick Zottl (Sarnia, Ont.) had one of his own which was almost a carbon copy of the previous goal. Zottl's quick wrist shot goal came off of an assist from Janes and pushed the Lions ahead to a 2-0 lead.
From this point forward the tension on the ice seemed to rise. Hit after hit, the Lions enforced their will on the Gryphons. The nail was driven into the coffin when Nicholas Geiser (Bolton, Ont.) chipped the puck in from close range on the right side of the net. With a 3-0 lead entering the third period of the game the Lions could look forward confidently to closing out the game and chalking up another W in the new year.
York goaltender Alex Fotinos (Toronto) was nearly perfect on the day, saving 29 of 30 shots on goal. The only blemish on an outstanding day in net came when Guelph's Robert Lepine snuck the puck in off of a ricochet late in the third period.
After Guelph attempted to score with an empty net and an extra man on the ice the final buzzer sounded and the Lions skated off with the two-goal victory.
The Lions' next game will take place on Saturday (Jan. 14) when they travel to Windsor, Ont., to challenge the Windsor Lancers. Puck drop is set for 7:30pm in their only contest of the weekend.
Source: York Lions
