By Hailey Salvian
The Ryerson Rams women’s hockey team continued their offensive struggles Friday evening in their loss against the York University Lions.
The Lions opened the scoring four minutes into the game with a goal by forward Amy Locke and dominated the majority of the period. The Rams remained quiet for most of the frame. They had their best scoring change mid-way through the period after the Lions committed back-to-back penalties, giving the Rams a two-man advantage. But, after failing to register a shot on net, they went back to even strength still scoreless in the game. After killing of both penalties, the Lions scored again to make it 2-0 at the end of the period.
Currently last in the Ontario University Athletics standings, the Rams are averaging one goal per game, with an average of 27 shots. Despite this, head coach Lisa Haley said she thinks the team’s effort is there, but with younger players stepping into new roles, the team is lacking the connection up the ice that is needed for them to be successful.
“I don’t expect [goal scoring] to blow wide open at this point,” said Haley. “But I do expect is for us to find ways to tighten up our game.”
The Rams came out hard in the second period and quickly cut the lead in half with Emma Rutherford’s, team leading, fifth goal of the season. Things were looking up for the Rams, with many good scoring chances throughout the period, but it was Ally Sarna’s play between the pipes that kept the game close, stopping all twelve of York’s second period shots.
The third period mostly featured the Lions on the man-advantage, which has been one of the Rams’ downfalls this season. The team is currently ranked second in the OUA in penalty minutes, totaling 171 minutes thus far.
Haley admitted the team “hasn’t been the greatest at adjusting to the standard the referees set in the game,” and says she hopes they can “not take so many penalties and put themselves in a better position to win games.”
In the first ten minutes of the frame, the Rams committed two penalties, which led to Lions goals on both occasions. The Lions, whose power play is currently ranked last in the OUA, would finish 3-7. As the period dwindled, Locke put the game away with her third goal of the night, completing the hat trick and the Lions 5-1 victory over the Rams.
The ladies will be back in action on Saturday afternoon when they host their second annual Do It For Daron game versus the top seeded Guelph Gryphons.
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