By Sam Beaudoin
The Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) Bold men’s hockey team dropped game one of the Ontario University University (OUA) Queen’s Cup Playoffs to the University of Toronto (U of T) Varsity Blues 4-1, going down 1-0 in the series.
The matchup between the cross-town rivals is among the best in the OUA playoffs in round one, with a chance to move onto the quarter-finals and earn additional bragging rights along the way.
“They played pretty well tonight, they were definitely physical which caught us off guard a little bit,” said TMU forward Connor Bowie. “We just have to change a couple things and we’ll be fine on Saturday night.”
The two squads finished the regular season separated by a single point, with the Bold taking the victory in two out of three matchups, earning themselves home ice advantage in front of the Mattamy Athletic Centre (MAC) faithful.
The Bold came out of the gates poised in the first frame, exemplifying playoff hockey at its finest. TMU never missed an opportunity to lay the body on their opponent, finishing every check and playing extremely tight defensive zone hockey.
Despite outshooting the Varsity Blues 13-2 in the period, U of T goaltender Jett Alexander was dynamite, keeping his team in it.
“Yeah the shots were great, 14-2 or whatever it was…but it’s 0-0 and it means nothing,” said head coach Johnny Duco. “Forty one shots is great on paper but it doesn’t mean a whole lot if we’re not capitalizing.”
Finding the back of the net against Alexander appears to be among the top challenges for Duco and his squad in this short series. Alexander finished top-five in the OUA with a .927% save percentage and tied for second with three shutouts.
“He’s human, he’s a really good goalie who’s had a fantastic season, but he gives up rebounds,” said Duco. “If we’re barring down on our scoring chances, he’s beatable…but he was sharp tonight and we made it too easy on him.”
The floodgates opened quickly in the second period. What was a tight hockey game developed into a wide-open contest with both teams flying up and down the ice.
The Varsity Blues quickly capitalized, notching the first two goals of the series within the first seven minutes of the frame.
Forward Peyton Reeves sniped home a beauty top corner which was quickly followed with a backhand finish off the stick of Cole Purboo to put U of T 2-0, silencing the MAC spectators.
The Bold didn’t let the adversity set in, quickly responding and getting on the scoresheet. A deflection by Bowie on a backhand shot attempt found the back of net, beating the all-but-human Alexander and cutting the Varsity Blues lead in half.
“A bit of a crazy bounce, but that’s the way you score goals in the playoffs,” said Bowie. “Especially against a goalie like that, sometimes you need lucky bounces.”
All the momentum the Bold reestablished towards the end of the second rapidly disappeared in the third period.
Despite recording 42 shots on net, the Bold weren’t able to beat Alexander a second time.
U of T kept its foot on the gas and doubled their lead. Forward Nicholas Wong buried a pair of goals past Bold netminder Kai Edmonds to essentially secure the Varsity Blues the game one win.
The Bold now have their backs against the wall and will look to stave off elimination on Saturday night and keep their season alive when the series shifts to U of T for game two.
“For us it’ll be working a little harder to get some higher danger chances,” said Duco. “We’ve got enough offensive talent to capitalize on a few of those.”
UP NEXT: The Bold will look to keep their season alive when they travel to U of T on Saturday night in hopes of evening up the series. Puck drop is set for 5 p.m.
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