York Lions women's ice hockey
# York Lions women's ice hockey

The York Lions women's ice hockey team represents York University in Toronto, Ontario in the sport of ice hockey in the Ontario University Athletics conference of U Sports. The York Lions have won three OUA championships in their program history while making one appearance in the U Sports women's ice hockey championship tournament since its inception in 1998.

## History

On February 11, 2000, the Ontario University Athletics women's ice hockey program saw its longest game take place. The University of Toronto's Rhonda Mitchell scored on a 35-foot slap shot. It was the 5:07 mark of the eighth period and the Varsity Blues defeated York University. Although the victory allowed the U of T to advance to the OUA gold medal game, it was the longest in the history of Canadian women's hockey (since broken). The game lasted over five hours and ten minutes. York's player of the game was goaltender Debra Ferguson, as she valiantly made 63 saves over 125 minutes.

On February 5, 2011, two Lions players, forward Courtney Unruh and defender Kelsey Webster (and assistant coach Stacey Colarossi) were part of the Team Canada roster that captured gold at the 2011 Winter Universiade title as Canada defeated Finland 4–1 in the gold-medal final. Autumn Mills was the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) nominee for the 2011 Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) Marion Hillard Award.

After seven years of finishing out of the playoffs, the 2019-20 Lions team finished with a 14–0–8–2 record and a third-place finish in the OUA. The Lions swept both the Waterloo Warriors and Nipissing Lakers in the OUA playoffs before losing the McCaw Cup championship to the Toronto Varsity Blues in a sudden death 1–3 loss. Because the Lions were an OUA finalist, the team qualified for the U Sports women's ice hockey championship for the first time in program history in 2020. However, because of the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada, the tournament was cancelled on the day that the Lions were scheduled to play against the McGill Martlets in the opening round game. The 2020–21 season was cancelled due to the pandemic and the Lions finished last in their division following their return to play in 2021–22.

### Recent results

| Year | GP | W | OTW | T | L | OTL | P | Standing | Post-season |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 2003-04 | 22 | 2 | – | 1 | 19 | – | 5 | 4th in OUA East | Did not qualify for playoffs |
| 2004-05 | 22 | 1 | – | 2 | 19 | 0 | 4 | 4th in OUA East | Did not qualify for playoffs |
| 2005-06 | 24 | 6 | – | 8 | 10 | 0 | 20 | 7th in OUA | Did not qualify for playoffs |
| 2006-07 | 24 | 9 | – | 1 | 14 | 0 | 19 | 7th in OUA | Did not qualify for playoffs |
| 2007-08 | 27 | 11 | – | 4 | 11 | 1 | 27 | 6th in OUA | Lost OUA Quarter-Final (0–1 (SO)) vs. Guelph |
| 2008-09 | 27 | 15 | – | 0 | 12 | 0 | 30 | 4th in OUA | Lost OUA Quarter-Final (0–2) vs. Brock |
| 2009-10 | 27 | 13 | 4 | – | 9 | 1 | 45 | 3rd in OUA | Lost OUA Quarter-Final (2–3) vs. Windsor |
| 2010-11 | 27 | 7 | 4 | – | 16 | 0 | 22 | 7th in OUA | Lost OUA Quarter-Final vs. Brock (0–2 series) |
| 2011-12 | 26 | 12 | 1 | – | 12 | 1 | 28 | 6th in OUA | Won OUA Quarter-Final vs. Queen's (2–1 series) Lost OUA Semi-Final vs. Western (1–2 series) |
| 2012-13 | 26 | 6 | 2 | – | 15 | 3 | 22 | 9th in OUA | Did not qualify for playoffs |
| 2013-14 | 24 | 4 | 2 | – | 16 | 2 | 16 | 11th in OUA | Did not qualify for playoffs |
| 2014-15 | 24 | 11 | – | – | 10 | 3 | 25 | 10th in OUA | Did not qualify for playoffs |
| 2015-16 | 24 | 8 | 1 | – | 11 | 4 | 27 | 10th in OUA | Did not qualify for playoffs |
| 2016-17 | 24 | 6 | 0 | – | 15 | 3 | 20 | 12th in OUA | Did not qualify for playoffs |
| 2017-18 | 24 | 8 | 0 | – | 14 | 2 | 28 | 10th in OUA | Did not qualify for playoffs |
| 2018-19 | 24 | 8 | 3 | – | 12 | 1 | 31 | 9th in OUA | Did not qualify for playoffs |
| 2019-20 | 24 | 14 | 0 | – | 8 | 2 | 44 | 3rd in OUA | Won OUA Quarter-Final vs. Waterloo (2–0 series) Won OUA Semi-Final vs. Nipissing (2–0 series) Lost OUA Championship (1–3) vs. Toronto U Sports championship cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic |
| 2020-21 | Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic | Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic | Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic | Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic | Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic | Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic | Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic | Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic |
| 2021-22 | 17 | 3 | 1 | – | 12 | 1 | 12 | 11th in OUA | Did not qualify for playoffs |
| 2022-23 | 27 | 7 | 2 | – | 18 | 0 | 12 | 11th in OUA | Did not qualify for playoffs |

**International contests**

| Season | Date | Opponent | Score |
| - | - | - | - |
| 2009-10 | October 3, 2009 | Chinese Olympic hockey team | 1-4 |
| 2009-10 | October 4, 2009 | Chinese Olympic hockey team | 2-6 |

## Lions in pro hockey

| = CWHL All-Star | = NWHL All-Star | = Clarkson Cup Champion | = Isobel Cup Champion |
| - | - | - | - |
| Player | Position | Team | League | Accomplishments |
| Kristen Barbara | Defense | Markham Thunder Toronto Six | CWHL NWHL | 2018 Clarkson Cup champion |
| Mandy Cole | Forward | Brampton Thunder | CWHL | |
| Allyson Fox | Forward | Brampton Thunder (2007-2012) | CWHL | Participated in the 2010 Clarkson Cup |
| Kerri Palmer | Defense | Brampton Thunder | CWHL | |
| Kelsey Webster | Defense | Strathmore Rockies (2009–10) Calgary Inferno (2011-2016) | WWHL CWHL | Won the 2016 Clarkson Cup with the Calgary Inferno |
