TORONTO, Ont. – The Ontario Tech women's hockey team's playoff hopes ended Thursday night as they lost 3-1 to the York Lions on the road.

The Lions struck midway through the first with a goal from Alexa Giantsopoulos to open the scoring as the two teams battled to find chances in front of the net.

The Ridgebacks came into the second period on the powerplay, but the first big chance of the period came from Jill Milligan, who sprung a one-on-one while coming out of the penalty box with Zoe McGee (Katana, Ont.) before being denied a goal. Giantsopoulos would follow with her second goal of the night for the Lions.

Ava Ricker-Singh registered the third goal of the night for the Lions with a shot from the point 11 minutes into the third.

The Ridgebacks looked poised to chip into the 3-0 lead late in the third period with over a minute of five-on-three power play, but the York Lions would kill the penalty with some solid defending. With 2 minutes left in regulation, Katie Mikkelsen (Oshawa, Ont.) found her way past Emma Wedgewood to get the Ridgebacks on the board. McGee would be pulled for an extra attacker following the goal, and some spectacular defensive efforts denied the Lions a chance to extend the lead back to three, but the Ridgebacks fell short of finding a way back into the game.

The Ridgebacks will now have one final game at home against the Nipissing Lakers on Saturday night where they honour their graduating seniors.