February 17, 2016

Offence explodes for five, Lions take game one over Varsity Blues

The York University Lions men's hockey team took game one of the OUA West Quarterfinals on Wednesday (Feb.17) by a score of 5-0 over the University of Toronto Varsity Blues at Canlan Ice Sports.

York

Toronto

Final

York

Toronto

York

Toronto

Final

York

Toronto

The York University Lions men's hockey team took game one of the OUA West Quarterfinals on Wednesday (Feb.17) by a score of 5-0 over the University of Toronto Varsity Blues at Canlan Ice Sports.

Derek Sheppard (Ajax, Ont.) and company rallied the troops to a commanding defeat over their cross town rival on Wednesday evening, in an effort that was close to a flawless game from the boys in red and white. The Lions were firing on all cylinders, which included the blue line standing strong and allowing limited quality scoring chances for the Blues. The solid defensive play was a key factor in Chris Perugini (King City, Ont.) receiving his first career playoff shutout.

The Lions hulking defensemen Sheppard finished Wednesday night with two assists paired with an incredible individual effort goal, that saw him break free from a Blues defensemen and go up stairs on goaltender Andrew Hunt in the third period to put the game out of reach.

The first period began rather slow for the Lions; as the Varsity Blues were controlling the pace of the game at the start of the period. This was until the Lions awoke and began to pepper Hunt from all angles, and as the first period was moments away from expiring, Justin Larson (Buckhorn, Ont.) found Colton Vannucci (High River, Alta.) planted in front for an easy tap in, sending the Lions into the second period with a 1-0 lead.

The Lions continued their dominance in the second period as they were relentless on the back check, and the likes of Trevor Petersen (Thornhill, Ont.), Vannucci, and Kyle Campbell (Halifax) were all over the ice creating havoc for the opposition. As the Lions shot total rose, it was only a matter of time until the scoring frenzy would begin, and at the 12:31 mark of the second period the flood gates opened. Larson corralled the puck in the corner and patiently walked out front, to find a streaking Petersen crashing to the net to extend the Lions lead to 2-0. After the Blues were penalized, the Lions went on the power play and worked the puck around to Larson who once again fund a streaking Petersen to put the Cats up 3-0.

Larson finished game one with an impressive stat line of three points, all of which were impressive passes that awed those in attendance.

The Lions seemed to be in cruise control as the third frame was reminiscent of the first two periods. At the mid way point Sheppard and Mark Cross (Strasbourg, Sask.) found the back of the net to figuratively put the game on ice, and to give the Lions a 1-0 lead in the OUA West Quarterfinal round.

The Lions will look to take game two on Saturday (Feb. 20) afternoon when they travel downtown to take on the Varsity Blues at 3:30pm.