By Mikayla Guarasci
The Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) Bold women’s hockey team fell 2-1 to the University of Windsor Lancers on Saturday evening on home ice.
The loss came as a result of Windsor goaltender Kristen Swiatoschik, who made an impressive 44 saves to hold TMU to just one goal. TMU drops to 1-3 in the season with the loss.
“Every team would rather just play five-on-five and get some momentum going and good flow up and and down the ice,” said Bold head coach Lisa Haley. “As a coach, you are worried about the players that are in those situations, getting gassed and are they going to have the push at the end.”
The first period saw both sides tested on special teams, with each picking up two minor penalties. Even with the man advantage, neither team was able to score the game’s first goal.
The Bold were able to get 15 shots in the first 20 minutes on opposing goalie, Swiatoschik, while the Lancers had only four shots on TMU’s goalie Jayden Lawson.
The penalties didn’t stop after the first period. Windsor took a too many men penalty just over five minutes into the second period. As a result of the penalty, TMU was able to get set in the offensive zone. Just 34 seconds into the power play, Bold forward Dani Fox scored to put her team up 1-0.
The goal was Fox’s first in the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) conference after coming from the National Collegiate Athletics Association’s (NCAA) University of Connecticut. Scoring her first goal is something that Fox said has been on her mind over the past few games.
“The coaches have been trying to get me to be quick [on the] release so just getting that one-timer off was good,” said Fox. “It was good to score, it felt good.”
Just over the halfway point of the second period, Taylor Leitch got a shot on net for the Lancers and it found its way past Lawson to tie things up at one.
The teams went into the second intermission locked at one apiece. The Lancers outshot the Bold in the second period 11-7 for a total of 22-15 in favour of TMU.
The final frame was tight and saw chances for both teams. With 6:11 to go in the game, Windsor’s Maggie Peterson was awarded a penalty shot after being taken down by Lauren McEachen. She took full advantage, making a move around Lawson and put the Lancers up 2-1.
TMU went to work on the power play and were rewarded with another just moments after the first expired. The Bold kept the shots flowing but their best opportunity was stopped by the goal post.
“I think we almost had it up there and we could’ve gone into OT,” said Fox. “It just wasn’t in the cards.”
Time expired without a Bold equalizer, ending what was their third straight loss. TMU put up 45 shots, the fourth most in program history. Swiatoschik made 44 shots to secure the win for Windsor. The Lancers had 22 shots with Lawson making 20 saves.
“They did a great job in front of her, making sure that she had good sight lines,” said Haley. “Her performance was awesome.”
The Bold will look to get in the win column Nov. 3 in Waterloo against the University of Waterloo Warriors.
“After today’s effort, if that happens again, we’ll be in a good position to win a lot of hockey games,” said Haley. “That’s a game we felt we deserved to get some points in. I’m sure that the hockey gods will take care of us and we will get some points out of a game maybe we didn’t deserve to down the road.”
UP NEXT: The Bold will be back in action on Thursday, Nov. 3 at Columbia Icefield Arena in Waterloo against the University of Waterloo Warriors.
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