Kristie Wilson scored with five seconds remaining to complete the York Lions come back as the Varsity Blues women’s hockey team  opened their 2011-12 campaign with a 6-5 loss on Saturday, October 8 at Canlan Ice Sports.

After a back-and-forth affair, things were looking up for the Blues as third-year defencman Marlie McLaughlin scored a shorthanded goal, U of T’s second of the game, with 22 seconds remaining to even the score at 5-5. 

However, Wilson would answer right back, completing her hat trick performance with five second to go to seal the home team victory.

U of T got out to a great start as Ragan Danford of Madoc, Ont., opened the scoring on Toronto’s first powerplay opportunity of the game, assisted by rookie April Looije and Brittany Kirby.

First-year forward Courtney Tougas notched her first career goal in the Blue and White six minutes later and U of T carried a 2-0 advantage into the second period.

A native of Thunder Bay, Ont., Tougas added her second goal of the game 3:51 into the second frame, assisted by fellow rookie Jacqueline Scheffel.

The Lions quickly got back into the game as Wilson caught Blues goalie Nicole Kesteris out of position and fired the puck into the empty net.  On the ensuing play, York assistant captain Katrina Tollis sent a quick shot on net to close the gap to just one.

A shorthanded marker by Markham, Ont., native Kelly O’Hanlon would restore U of T’s two-goal lead; however, it wouldn’t last long as Tollis tallied her second of the game in the final minutes of the second period.   The Blues held onto a slight 4-3 lead heading into the third period.

The play went back and forth to start the third; however, Toronto got into penalty trouble and the home team took full advantage. Wilson evened the score with a powerplay goal at the 8:02 mark and with Blues defenceman Natalie Hughes in the penalty box, Lions forward Lisa Stathopulos scored three minutes later to give the Lions their first lead of the game.

Kesteris made some amazing saves in the final minutes of the game, but it wasn’t enough as the Lions resilience took the win. 

The Varsity Blues return to action tomorrow afternoon (Oct. 9) as they host their first-ever game versus the Ryerson Rams at Varsity Arena.  The puck drops at 4 p.m.  The game will be streamed live on SSN Canada through varsityblues.ca. Advance tickets are on sale: click here or call 416-946-3811.

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