TORONTO - The Ryerson Rams women's hockey team returns home for a pair of games this week against the Laurier Golden Hawks and York Lions.

Ryerson is back at the Mattamy Athletic Centre after their road trip north to Laurentian and Nipissing last weekend. Often a tough road trip, the Rams came away with two regulation wins for six important points in the standings, vaulting them up into a tie for fifth place.

This week's opponents are on opposite ends of the spectrum. Thursday's game is against Laurier, a team with just two wins on the season and who sit 11th in the league, while Saturday's afternoon tilt sees the Rams host nationally ranked York.

The Rams have yet to see Laurier this season, but Ryerson has won the last six meetings with the Golden Hawks. Laurier's offence has struggled this season, averaging just 1.56 goals per game, the third lowest in the league.

The two teams are among the OUA's top three in terms of penalty minutes, so look for the power play and penalty kill units to get lots of ice time on Thursday night.

On Saturday the Rams will be looking to split their season series with the Lions, after York won the first meeting 3-0 back on November 2nd at York's arena. The Lions own a 7-3-0-0 record on the season, a game better than Ryerson's 6-4-0-0 mark. 

Since that lackluster performance against York, the Rams have won four straight games and scored 19 goals and Ryerson will look to continue to fill the net on Saturday.

Ryerson's Erika Crouse (Kirkland Lake, Ont.) has found her stride as of late and now ranks second in the OUA in both goals and points. Crouse has a pair of points in each of the Rams' games in their winning streak.

Also playing a large role in the Rams' recent run is goaltender Rachel Seeley (Ottawa, Ont.). She has been in net for each of the last four games and her 1.42 goals against average ranks third in the league. 

This week's action gets under way on Thursday night at 7:15 p.m. at the MAC while Saturday's puck drop is at 2:15 p.m. on Mattamy Home Ice. Both games are also available on OUA.tv