The No. 4 University of Toronto Varsity Blues women's hockey team shutout the No. 9 York Lions 2-0 on Saturday afternoon (Jan 11) at Canlan Ice Sports. With the win, Toronto passes York in the OUA standings to hold the top spot in the league.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED: Both teams showed why they are top teams in the country early with their solid defensive play. Blues rookie forward Natasha Athanasakos came out with a lot of energy. She forced turnovers in their offensive zone with her relentless forechecking. This paid off for her when she was able to feed Mathilde De Serres in front to open up the scoring with one minute left in the first period.
 
Toronto and York exchanged powerplay opportunities through the second period but the penalty killers would prevail, keeping the Blues up 1-0 through 40 minutes of action.
 
The Lions applied pressure in the final period, forcing Blues second year goalie Erica Fryer to come up with big saves. The Lions pulled their goalie to try and tie the game up but Fryer stood tall. Athanasakos would bury an empty netter to put the game away for the Varsity Blues.
 
Fryer made 23 saves and recorded her second shutout of the season in the winning effort.
 
UP NEXT: The Blues head to Windsor to battle the Lancers on Friday night (Jan 17) at 7:30pm.

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