Box Score Sometimes, a hockey team just has to ride the ebbs and flows over the course of a disjointed game and hope the game ends during a flow. Unfortunately for the Waterloo Warriors, Friday night's game ended with an ebb.

Jesse Messier scored once in regulation and added the shootout winner as the York Lions overcame a blown lead to squeak out a 4-3 shootout win over the Waterloo Warriors on Friday night at the Columbia Icefield in Waterloo.

The Lions victory moves them to 10-7-0 on the season, and pulls them to within one point of the Warriors (9-6-3) for fifth in the OUA West division. The Lions also overcame yet another heroic performance by Warriors forward Justin Larson (Buckhorn/), who scored twice and added an assist to extend his point streak to nine games, and pull into a tie for first in the nation in scoring with 28 points.

Colin Behenna (Waterloo/) had two assists in the losing cause, and Andy Smith (Rosetown/) added a goal. For the Lions, Mackenzie Micks and Tyler McGee both found the back of the net, while Michael Santini and Evan Gravenor each added a pair of assists. Andrew Perugini got the win between the pipes for the Lions, while Justin Leclerc (Saskatoon/) was saddled with the loss for Waterloo.

Even though the Lions were playing their first game after the holiday break, it was the Warriors that looked out-of-sorts in the game's opening minutes. Just 43 seconds in, Messier deflected a waist-high wrister from Jordan Davies, beating Leclerc to give the Lions an early 1-0 lead. They doubled their advantage shortly thereafter, when McGee took the drop-pass from Santini on a two-on-two rush, and zipped a low shot home to make the score 2-0 after 20 minutes.

The second period was marred by a parade to the penalty box, as eight minors were called in the middle frame. The Warriors squandered some early power play opportunities, but while on a 5-on-3 man advantage in the waning seconds of the second, Larson teed up a one-timer and blasted it past Perugini to cut the deficit in half after two periods.

The Warriors rode that momentum into the third, and Larson equaled the score on a carbon copy of his first tally, again on a two-man advantage. Then, with just under nine minutes remaining, the Warriors went ahead when a loose puck bounced to Smith in the slot, who backhanded the puck over Perugini's shoulder for a 3-2 Warriors lead.

The lead was short-lived, however, as the Lions knotted up the game only 33 seconds later. Off the rush, Leclerc mishandled a shot to his glove hand, and Micks slid the rebound home before Leclerc could jump on the juicy rebound.

The game remained knotted at 3 through the five-minute overtime session, forcing a shootout to decide a winner. Larson and Brett Mackie (Whitby/) were both stopped by Perugini, while Michael Lombardi and Messier both potted goals for the Lions to give them the extra point in the standings.

The Warriors will now get back into the normal routine of practices and classes this week, before hosting the hottest team in the nation next Friday night when they take on the Western Mustangs. Then, a night later, the Brock Badgers will visit the Warriors for the rubber match of their season series. Both games are slated for 7:30pm at the Columbia Icefield Arena, and both games will be broadcast on www.ssncanada.ca.

Notes: The Warriors went 2-for-8 on the power play, while the Lions went 0-for-6…during his 9-game point streak, Larson has been in on 18 of the Warriors' 24 goals (66.6%)...UW athletics hall-of-fame golfer Garrett Rank, an OUA and OHL official, worked the game as a linesman.