By Mikayla Guarasci
The Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) men’s hockey team fell 1-0 to the University of New Brunswick (UNB) Reds on Friday night in non-conference pre-season action at the Mattamy Athletic Centre (MAC).
The game was a rematch of the 2022 U Cup quarter-final from last season, where TMU upset UNB, one of Canada’s strongest teams.
“There was a lot of excitement, more about just playing a good team, there’s a lot to get up for but at the same time it’s just another game,” said Bold defenceman Elijah Roberts. “I wouldn’t say there was nerves or we were intimidated at all.”
From puck drop, the game was fast-paced and physical, with both teams looking for an edge. Less than three minutes into the game, Bold forward Will Portokalis picked up a pass and crossed the blue-line for a breakaway chance, but was unable to capitalize.
Late in the first period, Bold head coach Johnny Duco was assessed a bench minor after a disagreement with the officials.
“I was frustrated, we had two players that were high sticked and bleeding with no calls and then they clearly had too many men on the ice, a third no call,” said Duco. “I thought there was a few questionable calls that went our way so I challenged [the officials] and they didn’t like it.”
“Those two are veteran guys [who have] been around a long time,” he added. “They just don’t want to hear anything from anybody so that’s a quick reminder of that.”
The game remained scoreless on both ends after the first 20 minutes of play. UNB more than doubled TMU in shots—13 to the Bold’s six.
Friday’s second period saw more chances on both ends. With seven minutes remaining in the period, TMU turned the puck over close to their net, but first-year goaltender Kai Edmonds and Bold defenders pulled together and were able to keep the Reds off the board.
TMU’s Jesse Barwell went to the box for interference with 4:30 to go in the second period, putting the penalty killers to work. UNB had dangerous chances on the powerplay, but Edmonds kept the game even, making 13 more saves in the second frame for a two-period total of 26. TMU added five shots for a total of 11.
“It wasn’t a surprise,” said Duco of his goalie’s performance. “We’ve been watching Kai in practice on a daily basis and he’s fantastic. I think he’s going to be one of the best goalies in the country for years to come so we are really excited about him.”
Almost ten minutes into the third period, the Reds celebrated what they thought was the first goal of the game. While it was ultimately ruled no goal, UNB was quick to respond and Cole MacKay scored to put the Reds up 1-0 with just 11:47 to play in the game. The Bold then started their quest for an equalizer.
With 2:01 remaining in the game, TMU pulled Edmonds for the extra attacker in an attempt to score. After a scoring opportunity for the Bold, the teams got into a skirmish resulting in a powerplay for the home team.
They were unable to score with the advantage and couldn’t tie the game before time ran out. Sam Richard made 16 saves for the shutout, while Edmonds made 33 saves in the loss.
TMU will look ahead to Saturday afternoon’s rematch against UNB and try to adjust for the win. Roberts explained that the team has some areas to clean up before Saturday’s game, but a quick start is also important.
“I think we need more shots on net, we had less than 20 tonight and these guys have been travelling this whole week so the back to back will be a little bit harder on them than us,” said Roberts. “We just need to capitalize on that and not give them a chance to be in the game.”
UP NEXT: TMU will play UNB again on Saturday at the MAC for their second pre-season matchup in as many days. Puck-drop is set for 12:15 p.m.
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