Lions bounce back from two-goal deficit with five unanswered goals in third period
NORTH YORK, Ont. - The York University Lions men's hockey team scored five unanswered goals in the third period to erase a two-goal deficit and post a 6-3 victory over the Ryerson Rams in the opening game of their OUA quarter-final best-of-three series at Canlan Ice Sports on Wednesday night.
After falling behind by two goals in a lopsided second period, the Lions came out flying in the third, levelling the score less than 90 seconds in and then adding another two quick goals later in the third to secure the win.
Derek Sheppard wasted little time getting the scoring started, finding the back of the net for the first goal of the game just a minute and a half into the first period. Assisting him were Reid Jackman and Josh LaFrance.
After this exciting start to the game, the rest of the period did not see another goal and it ended 1-0 for the Lions.
The Rams stepped up their game in the second period to score three goals. The first of these goals came from Erik DeLaurentis, assisted by Marcus Hinds and Vince Figliomeni. Less than a minute later, Aaron Armstrong, assisted by Steven Harland and Matt Nosella, added another goal. John Carpino closed out the period with the Rams' third goal with the aid of Armstrong to lead 3-1 over the Lions.
Unfortunately for the Rams, the Lions came back to score five goals in the third. Not to be outdone, the Lions scored a pair of goals just 10 seconds apart in the first 1:24. Trevor Petersen scored first, assisted by Sal Filice and Sheppard, followed by Scott Feser, assisted by Jackman.
Later in the period, the Lions added another pair of goals only 12 seconds apart. Petersen put in his second goal of the game with the assistance of Colton Vannucci and Morgan Messenger, and then Kyle Campbell buried the puck in the back of the Rams' net with assists to Stefano Pezzetta and Alex Mowbray.
To round out scoring, Vannucci added a sixth goal on an empty Rams' net. Nick Zottl had the assist on this tally.
The Lions now lead the series 1-0 and will look to complete the sweep on Saturday night when the series shifts to the Mattamy Athletic Centre for a 7:15pm puck drop. Should a third game be necessary, it will take place on Sunday afternoon back at Canlan Ice Sports, beginning at 2pm.
Source: York Lions