LIONS LOOKAHEAD: BASKETBALL RETURNS HOME, VOLLEYBALL, WOMEN’S HOCKEY HIT THE ROAD, MEN’S HOCKEY LOOKS TO MOVE CLOSER TO PLAYOFF SPOT

With a national bronze medal in tow, the fall season is officially complete for the York University Lions.

The men’s soccer team earned York’s second U SPORTS medal in two weeks with a third place finish last weekend at the national championships in Oshawa. They did so by beating St. FX 2-1 in a game they controlled early. They then scored the first goal in the semi-final against Montreal before surrendering the next two to fall 2-1, but they rebounded nicely after surrendering the opening goal in the bronze medal match to McGill, scoring three straight to take a 3-1 win and bring home the bronze.

York also earned some hardware on the mats last weekend at the TMU Pat Bolger Open, with Prabhleen Randhawa winning silver in the women’s 65kg weight class and Erica Liang taking bronze in the 62kg class.

The Lions volleyball teams had an up-and-down weekend at home against the Western Mustnags, with the women dropping both matches in four sets and the men winning both their matches to improve to 6-0 on the year. They took down the Mustangs in a five-set thriller on Friday before dropping the first set of Saturday’s match only to win the next three to stay undefeated.

Basketball had a difficult visit to the nation’s capital, as the Lions teams each lost both games to the Ottawa Gee-Gees and Carleton Ravens respectively. However, in what is a building year for both programs, York was going to be in tough against two of the top teams in the nation for both men and women, with each of the four Ottawa-based basketball teams ranked among the U SPORTS top 10.

The Lions women’s hockey team played the first two of four straight games against the Windsor Lancers and Western Mustangs. The Lions fell 4-1 to the Lancers on Friday night before earning a point in a 4-3 overtime loss to Western on Saturday evening. The men’s team, meanwhile, also procured a point in its only game of the weekend, a 3-2 shootout defeat at the hands of the UQTR Patriotes in Trois-Rivieres.

With that look at the week that was, here’s what’s going on in the den this week:

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

After back-to-back losses brought the Lions back down to .500 at 2-2, they return home to play host to the Laurentian Voyageurs and Nipissing Lakers this weekend. The Lions come in 12th in the OUA in points per game with 68.0. They will look to re-discover their offensive stroke after averaging just 42.5 points in their losses in Ottawa last weekend. They’ll have a chance to do just that against two teams in Laurentian and Nipissing which give up 62.2 and 76.6 points a game, respectively. If the Lions split that diffference, they’ll be right around their average of 68. The Lakers have shown an ability to score early, posting 60+ points in three of their last four games. Both games this weekend begin at 6:00 pm. You can get your tickets here or stream them live on OUA TV.

MEN’S BASKETBALL

The Lions are still looking for their first win of the season after opening the season 0-4. York will face Laurentian and Nipissing teams that each enter the weekend at 3-2 in what has been – at least to begin the year – a loaded OUA East. All five six teams in the East are above .500, with the Voyageurs and Lakers rounding out the division despite boasting winning records. Laurentian will enter play Friday winners of three straight, having beaten Guelph, Brock and Laurier in their last three games. Nipssing, meanwhile, has won two straight, beating Brock and Laurier. The Lakers have been scoring at a high clip of late, posting 65+ points in four straight games, including 85 in their Saturday win over the Golden Hawks. Friday’s game with Laurentian as well as Saturday’s with Nipissing tip off at 8:00 pm. You can get tickets here or stream live on OUA TV.

WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL

The Lions women’s volleyball team looks to get back to the winning formula – having dropped four straight matches – when they visit the Ottawa Gee-Gees in a weekend doubleheader. Friday’s match will be the first between the two sides since Jan. 31, 2016, after the Gee-Gees moved to the RSEQ following the 2015-16 season. In their last season of OUA competiton, the teams played each other twice including that January matchup, with Ottawa winning both matches – one at York on Oct. 30, 3-0 (16-25, 15-25, 17-25), and 3-1 in the aforementioned rematch in Ottawa (19-25, 22-25, 25-17, 12-25). The 2024-25 incarnation of the Gee-Gees come in at 3-1, having enjoyed their first bye on opening weekend. They’re coming off a pair of five-set matches last weekend against the TMU Bold, which they split, with Ottawa winning on Saturday night. Friday’s first serve will fly at 7:00 pm, with Saturday’s game getting going at 4:00 pm. You can stream both matches live on OUA TV 

MEN’S VOLLEYBALL

The Lions men’s team also hits the road this weekend, but, for the first time this season, will have a different opponent than the women, as they head north to battle with the Nipissing Lakers for a pair of matches. These will be the first matches between these two teams since Nov. 19-20, 2022, when the Lakers swept a pair of matches against the Lions in North Bay. The Lakers come into play this weekend off their first bye week at 1-3, after they earned their first victory of the year on Nov. 2 with a four-set win over McMaster. Conversely, York looks to remain the lone undefeated team in the OUA and one of just four in the country (Sherbrooke, Alberta, Winnipeg), before returning home to host Queen’s next weekend. Friday’s game begins at 7:00 pm, while Saturday’s match gets underway at 4:00 pm. You can stream them both on OUA TV.

WOMEN’S HOCKEY

The Lions women’s hockey team ventures west this weekend to visit the Western Mustangs and Windsor Lancers. The Lions just met these two teams last weekend, and will be looking to avenge a pair of losses in what are two more crucial divisional games. The Lions sit last in the OUA West, but are just two points behind the Mustangs, over whom they would leapfrog with a win on Friday night. York has scored just 12 goals their eight games thus far; however, the one bright spot in that is they’ve had a balanced offensive attack, with ten different players having scored at least one goal. The Mustangs come into Friday’s game having won three of their last four games, while Windsor has won four consecutive. Friday’s game at Western begins at 7:00 pm, with puck drop Saturday night in Windsor a half-hour later at 7:30 pm. You can stream both games on OUA TV.

MEN’S HOCKEY

The Lions men’s hockey team’s 2-5-2 record may not jump of the table, but the team has been trending upwards the last couple of weeks, earning points in three of their last four games, going 2-1-1 over that span. That included a 3-2 shootout loss to the UQTR Patriotes last weekend in which they rallied from a goal down in the third to tie the game. While the results haven’t always been there, the Lions have been playing competitive hockey this season, and put themselves in position to compete for a playoff spot in the OUA East. They head to Ottawa Friday night in what is a big game against the Carleton Ravens, who are just a point ahead of York for the seventh spot in the OUA East. However, with a regulation win Friday night against the Ravens, the Lions will catapult Carleton into the seventh spot. In a strange scheduling quirk, York then comes home Saturday night to battle the Queen’s Gaels, whom they were down a goal against late in the third on Oct. 5 before falling 6-3. Friday’s game begins at 7:00 pm from Ottawa, and Saturday’s game starts at 7:15 pm. You can get tickets for Saturday night here or stream both games on OUA TV.

WRESTLING

The Lions wrestling program will host its yearly event on Saturday as the York Open returns to the Tait McKenzie Centre. The Lions have had a solid start to the season, earning three medals over the first two meets, and will look to continue that on their home mats this weekend. Competition will run from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm in the Tait Fieldhouse, with York’s two graduating athletes, Kelly Nguyen and Daniyal Asim, to be honoured in a pre-meet ceremony. Admission is free.