Box Score The margin between a win and a loss in OUA hockey is often razor-thin. Unfortunately for the Waterloo Warriors, they were on the wrong side of the cut against the York Lions on Friday night.

In a game where the Warriors hit three goal posts, Jordan Davies scored his second power play goal of the game with 23 seconds left in overtime to lift the Lions to a 3-2 extra time victory at the Columbia Icefield Arena.

Justin Larson (Buckhorn/) and Chris Chappell (Pickering/) scored for the Warriors in the loss, which ended their 3-game winning streak and evened their record at 8-8-2. Jesse Messier added his team-leading 10^th goal for the Lions, who move to 9-8-1 on the season. Justin Leclerc (Saskatoon/) made 25 saves in the loss, while York backup Chris Perugini was solid in turning aside 31 shots for his first victory of the season.

The game began with good pace, and the Warriors carried the bulk of the first period play. But Perugini, making only his second start of the year in relief of his brother and York starter Andrew, stood tall in the Lions net. Late in the first, Messier burst in on the left wing and rifled a shot short side over Leclerc's blocker to make the score 1-0 for York after one period.

The second period started with some fireworks when, during a goalmouth scramble, Lions forward Mike Lombardi charged in from the boards and leveled Waterloo's Riley Sonnenburg (Cambridge/) from behind into the goal post. Lombardi was assessed a cross-checking major and was ejected, but the Lions' stalwart penalty kill allowed them to escape unscathed.

Just past the 15-minute mark of the middle frame, the Warriors finally got on the board when Larson slapped home the rebound off a Greg Steffes (Amherstburg/) point shot to square things at 1 apiece. The Lions briefly reclaimed the league on the man-advantage moments later when Davies' point shot deflected past Leclerc, but Chappell evened the score before the period ended when he converted a 2-on-1 with Colin Behenna (Waterloo/) with a laser to the top shelf.

The end-to-end action – as well as the parade to the penalty box – ended in the third period, as neither team, nor the officials, seemed keen on taking a chance that might decide the game. The Warriors had a couple decent chances early in the extra frame, but they were once again victimized by the game of inches after Luke Lynes (Washington/) took a high-sticking call late in overtime.

First, Chappell's clearing attempt on the 4-on-3 penalty kill knicked the top of the glass and went out of play, forcing a faceoff in the Warriors zone instead of clearing the puck 200 feet. Then, with time winding down, Chappell's shot block in the slot went right to the stick of a pinching Davies, who made no mistake and gave York the decision.

The Warriors will now shift their attention to a rare Saturday afternoon affair, as they'll take on the Ryerson Rams in their first-ever trip to the renovated Mattamy Athletic Centre at Maple Leaf Gardens. Puck drop is slated for 2:30pm.

Notes: The Warriors went 0-for-6 on the power play, while York went 2-for-5…Chappell's goal was his 17^th of the season, giving him sole possession of first in the CIS in goal scoring…Larson's goal and assist gives him 6 points in 2 games in January.