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Former Warrior and current York Lions forward Justin Larson (Buckhorn) might not have found the scoresheet in his return to the Columbia Icefield Arena, but his teammates ensured that he did leave with the most important souvenir – a win.
The Lions got goals from Mitch VanTeeling and Colton Vannucci, as they snapped Waterloo's 8-game winning streak with a 2-1 victory over the Warriors on Friday night.
Colin Behenna (Waterloo) scored the only goal for the hosts, who suffered their first loss since November 14. Waterloo sees their record fall to 12-9-0 on the season, while the Lions improved to 13-6-3 – climbing back into first place in the OUA West in the process.
Chris Perugini earned the win for the Lions, kicking aside 31 shots for his division-leading 11th victory of the season. Mike Morrison (Hamilton) made 28 saves for the Warriors – many of the highlight-reel variety – in the defeat.
After Larson was acknowledged in a pregame ceremony, the big forward and his Lions came out of the gates searching for an early goal. It was the former Warrior who had the best chance from the left faceoff dot, but Morrison robbed him with the glove hand. It was one of a number of big saves the Waterloo keeper made in the first period to keep the game scoreless after 20 minutes.
The Lions broke through early in the second frame though, as their 3rd-ranked power play went to work. VanTeeling tipped a point shot right in front of Morrison, forcing the Warriors keeper into a gorgeous right pad save. But the rebound lay right there for VanTeeling, who made no mistake to put York up 1-0.
The game remained a one-goal affair until mid-way through the third, when Vannucci crossed in the high slot and beat Morrison to make it 2-0. With Larson in the box later in the period, Behenna smacked home a Stephen Silas (Georgetown) rebound to draw the Warriors back to within one, but that's as close as they would get.
The Warriors will now embark on a three-game road trip, starting right in their own backyard – Waterloo will visit the Laurier Golden Hawks on Saturday, January 23 at 7:30pm.
