Lions stave off elimination with comeback victory in overtime

ST. CATHARINES, Ont. - Rookie forward Adam Marsh scored on a beautiful wrist-shot eight minutes into the first overtime period to give the York University Lions men's hockey team a 4-3 victory over the Brock Badgers in Game 2 of their best-of-three OUA semifinal series.
 
The Lions had suffered a disheartening 6-2 loss to the Badgers in Game 1 of the series on Wednesday and had to make up for it on Friday in order to stay in the playoffs. It didn't look good early as they trailed by two goals in the second period, but the Lions came all the way back and found a way to win.
 
This game started off better than Wednesday's contest. Trevor Petersen was able to score for the Lions at 7:17 with the assistance of Derek Sheppard and Colton Vannucci.
 
The Badgers also added their first goal of the game in the opening period. Ayden MacDonald scored for the Badgers, with Matt MacLeod taking the assist on the goal. The period ended in a 1-1 tie.
 
The Lions slipped a little bit in the second when the Badgers scored twice on power plays to take a 3-1 lead. Chris Maniccia tallied first, assisted by Cosimo Fontana and Skylar Pacheco, followed by Sammy Banga assisted by Josh Timpano and MacLeod.
 
The Lions closed the gap with a goal from Morgan Messenger on a Lions power play of their own at 15:43. He was assisted by Petersen and Daniel Nikandrov. The second period wrapped up with the Lions one goal behind the Badgers at 3-2.
 
With the pressure of the playoffs on the line, the Lions came out flying to start the third and wasted little time finding the tying goal, as Nik Coric found the back of the net just 1:22 into the period, and Justin Bean and Nikandrov had the assists. The Lions also recorded nine shots on net to the Badgers' five in the third, but neither team could score again and the contest went to the extra frame.
 
In overtime the Lions outshot the Badgers 5-3 in the 8:05 the two teams played, and that was all they needed to win the game with Marsh's goal.
 
With the series tied 1-1, a third game will determine who will move onto the Queen's Cup championship and earn an automatic berth at the upcoming U SPORTS tournament. Both teams will travel back to Toronto and will take to the ice at Canlan Ice Sports on Saturday night at 7pm.

Source: York Lions