LIONS LOOKAHEAD: FIELD HOCKEY NATIONALS COME TO YORK, MEN’S SOCCER VIES FOR OUA TITLE

t was a tremendous week last week for the York University Lions, who lost only four games between their field hockey, soccer, basketball, volleyball and hockey teams.

The biggest wins of the week were those of the men’s soccer team, which beat Guelph in penalties 0-0 (5-3 PKs) in the OUA quarter-finals to move onto the semi against their rivals from down the street, the TMU Bold. That game was 1-1 less than six minutes in and stayed that way until the 91st minute, when Matthew Fischer scored the winner less than a minute into extra time to give his side a 2-1 win and berths in both the OUA and U SPORTS championships.

The women’s team earned a quarter-final win over the previously-undefeated Western Mustangs on a Sabrina Fabiano finish in extra time, sending York to the semis against the Nipissing Lakers. The match was played in winter-like conditions with flurries falling for the duration of the match. It was tied 1-1 until added time at the end of regulation, when the Lakers found the winner, handing the Lions a heartbreaking loss to end their season.

The Lions field hockey team took its final step before hosting the Field Hockey Canada U SPORTS Invitational Championship, competing in the OUA semi-final. They were on the wrong end of a tough loss of their own, falling to the Guelph Gryphons in a penalty shootout in the semi-final, forcing them to play for Bronze. In that Bronze Medal match against the Toronto Varsity Blues – who were stunned in the semis by the Waterloo Warriors – the Lions staged a late rally and, this time, won in the shootout to occupy the final podium position.

The Lions hockey teams each earned a victory, with the women’s team winning its first game in Guelph in almost 17 years. Meanwhile, the men’s team picked up its first win of the year with a solid team win over the Windsor Lancers.

On the court, the Lions volleyball and basketball programs went a combined 6-2, with the volleyball teams taking all four of their matches over the Trent Excalibur. The women’s basketball team started 2-0 for the first time since the 1980-81 season with impressive wins over the Laurier Golden Hawks and Ontario Tech Ridgebacks. The Lions men’s team dropped both its games.

After what was a busy week last week, here’s what’s going on in the den this week:

PLAYOFF GAMES

FIELD HOCKEY

The Lions get set to compete in their second national tournament in the last three years – this time on home turf. Under the new format of the championship, the participant size doubles from two teams to four, with each team playing four games in as many days. They will open up Thursday afternoon against the UPEI Panthers, before taking on the OUA champion Waterloo Warriors on Friday and rounding out the round robin against the Canada West-winning UVic Vikes. For the full tournament schedule, click here.

MEN’S SOCCER

After a pair of palpitating wins last week over Guelph and TMU, the Lions men’s soccer team will host its first OUA title game since 2019 on Saturday night, exactly five years to the day from the last. The Lions will battle the Ontario Tech Ridgebacks in a rematch of what was a riveting 2023 OUA semi-final, a match which the Lions took in penalties after the teams went scoreless for 110 minutes before trading goals in the latter stages of the first half of extra time. The Ridgebacks got here first with dominant wins of 4-1 and 5-2 over the Nipssing Lakers and the OUA’s top seed, the Toronto Varsity Blues. They then prevailed in penalties over the McMaster Marauders in the semis to advance to the program’s first OUA championship. Kickoff is set for 7:00 pm. You can get your tickets here or stream live on OUA TV.

REGULAR SEASON GAMES 

WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL

The Lions women’s volleyball team opens the home portion of its schedule this weekend with a pair of matches against the Waterloo Warriors. The Lions haven’t hosted Waterloo since prior to the pandemic when they fell in five sets to the Warriors on Jan. 11, 2020.  The Lions are 2-0 so far on the year, with the duo of Julia Typa and Amarai Endes carrying the load. Typa is fourth in the OUA in kills early in the year with 27, while Endes has a robust 19 kills on 31 total attacks, good for a .548 hitting percentage. The Lions will look to start 3-0 for the first time since 2021-22 and 4-0 for the first time since 2018-19. This weekend’s games go Friday at 6:00 pm and Saturday at 4:00 pm from the Tait McKenzie Centre. You can get tickets here or stream the games live on OUA TV.

MEN’S VOLLEYBALL

The men’s volleyball team is also back home for a pair of games against Waterloo, a team against whom they split a pair of matches in mid-January, earning a 3-1 win (23-25, 25-20, 25-21, 25-23), in the back half of the two-game series. The Lions have been led by Keyano College transfer Nathan Luken and rookie Chris Hoffman, who have each been credited with 16 kills thus far on the year. The Lions will look to start 3-0 for the first time since 2017-18 and 4-0 for the first time since their OUA championship-winning season of 2004-05 when they won their first 13 matches. First serves fly at 8:00 pm and 6:00 pm this weekend. You can get your tickets here or stream the matches on OUA TV.

MEN’S HOCKEY

The Lions men’s hockey team earned its first win of the season last weekend over the Windsor Lancers, and will look to build on that when they host the Ontario Tech Ridgebacks on Friday night in the first of a home-and-home series between the two clubs. York’s best game of the season outside of Saturday’s victory over the Lancers was on Oct. 11 when they took the Ridgebacks to overtime in a 4-3 defeat. The Lions have been paced offensively by rookies Mason Svarich and Chase Sandhu, who each have four points. Three of Svarich’s four points have been goals, including a pair last Friday against Toronto. Friday’s game begins at 7:15 pm from Canlan Ice Sports, with Saturday’s game in Oshawa beginning at 7:00 pm. You can get tickets to Friday’s tilt here stream both games live on OUA TV.

WOMEN’S HOCKEY

The Lions women’s hockey team looks for a third straight win when make the long trek to the national capital region to take on the OUA’s two newest teams, the Carleton Ravens and Ottawa Gee-Gees this weekend. Both Ottawa-based teams transferred from the RSEQ (Quebec) conference following last season, becoming the first teams to join the OUA since 2013-14 when the Laurentian Voyageurs iced a team between then and the end of the 2019-20 season. The Lions will open up on Friday night at Carleton at 7:00 pm, before they battle the Gee-Gees on Saturday afternoon at 3:00 pm. You can stream both games live on OUA TV.

WRESTLING

After a solid building season last year, the Lions wrestling team kicks off a new season this weekend at the McMaster Open. The meet goes Sunday from the Burridge Gymnasium in Hamilton