OSHAWA, Ont. – The UOIT women's hockey team held off a relentless York Lions squad on Thursday night to earn a 3-2 victory in their home opener.

Thursday night marked Justin Caruana's debut behind the bench for UOIT, as he picked up his first career CIS women's hockey victory as head coach.
 
Tegan Duncan opened the scoring 9:54 into the first for York to put the Ridgebacks down 1-0, but 40 seconds later Victoria MacKenzie (Toronto, Ont.) tied it by knocking home a rebound for UOIT. Natasha Tymcio (Caledon, Ont.) and Mariah Wilson (Cobourg, Ont.) earned assists on the play.
 
Trailing York in shots on goal after the first period, UOIT put 11 shots on Megan Lee in the second period, with the lone tally coming off Kassidy Nauboris' (Brampton, Ont.) backhand with 7:09 to play in the middle frame.
 
Nauboris broke down the left side of the ice, cutting to the net while switching to her backhand before beating Lee short side.
 
After two periods the Ridgebacks led 2-1 and were outshooting the Lions 18-16.
 
Early in the third Chelsea Ball (Maple, Ont.) beat Lee on a breakaway, sliding the puck under her pad 1:47 into the period to pad UOIT's lead.
 
York wasn't done as Stephanie Dovaston put the Lions within one with 9:22 left in the game.
 
With just over a minute remaining the Lions used their timeout and pulled Lee. Multiple pucks were bouncing around the Ridgeback crease as the seconds ticked off the clock, but they held on for the 3-2 victory to open the OUA season.
 
Tori Campbell (Lethbridge, Alta.) made 22 saves in the win, while Lee made 20 in the loss for the Lions.
 
UOIT continues their homestand on Saturday night when they host the Brock Badgers at the Campus Ice Centre. Puck drop is 7:30 p.m.
 
 
QUICK LOOK AT THE RIDGEBACKS
Overall Record: 3-1
Conference Record: 1-0
 
Next Game: Saturday, Oct. 10 vs. Brock Badgers (7:30 PM)