By Rob Vona
The Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) Bold men’s hockey team kicked off their 2023-24 season with a 3-1 win against the Windsor Lancers on Friday night at the Mattamy Athletic Centre (MAC).
“I thought we were really dialled for the full 60 [minutes],” said second-year Bold goalie Kai Edmonds, who turned away 29 of the 30 shots he faced. “Overall I was really happy with the game.”
The visiting Lancers got to a fast start, testing Edmonds early with a handful of shots, who turned away each one he faced. Soon after, third-year forwards Kyle Bollers and Elijah Roberts passed the puck to fourth-year defenceman Aaron Hyman—who broke the ice with a slapshot from the point that found the back of the net and gave the home team the 1-0 lead five minutes into the game.
After killing off a penalty of their own, the Bold headed to their first power play of the game after Lancers third-year forward Matt McNamara was assigned two minutes for hooking.
It took only seven seconds on the man advantage for third-year forward Chris Playfair to net his first goal as captain of the Bold. After a broken play, Bollers found Playfair in front of the net, who stretched across his body to slide the puck past fourth-year Lancers netminder Nathan Torchia.
“I think it’s always good to get an early [goal],” said Playfair. “It really energizes our bench and that’s the goal of every game—to get on them early and set the tone.”
A couple of missed opportunities on TMU’s power plays saw the lead remain at two. However, the Lancers struck on a man advantage of their own with under one minute to go in the second period.
“I just thought we were pretty sloppy today on the power play,” said Bold head coach Johnny Duco. “It seemed like our level of execution wasn’t where it needed to be.”
Duco added that it was “a bit of a rushed week” when setting up the power play unit because of some changes in the lineup last week and the lack of film on Windsor.
“I just thought we were pretty sloppy today on the power play”
A pair of penalties from Bollers and second-year forward Connor Bowie sent the visiting Lancers to a five-on-three man advantage. Second-year forward Jake Durham unleashed a booming slap shot from the hash marks that beat Edmonds, cutting the deficit to just one right before the final frame.
A quiet beginning to the third period saw the game remain at 2-1 as both teams had difficulty setting up their offence.
“I’m really happy with the way we defended and the way we dug in there at the end and didn’t give them a whole lot,” said Duco.
Pressure from TMU saw Torchia stay in his crease until one minute to go—allowing the extra attacker to come out in hopes of sending the game to overtime.
After the Bold held off the attack, Bollers calmly skated with the puck over the red line, fired it into the empty net to record his game-high third point of the night and lifted TMU to the 3-1 win.
The Bold now head on a string of road trips that will last around a month as they don’t play a game at the MAC until Nov. 4.
Duco feels good about hitting the road with this group because of their success historically away from home.
“Whether we’re [at] home or on the road we want to compete,” said Duco. “Getting on the road with the group is great, you come together, you eat meals together, you’re on the bus together early in the season, it’s good team building.”
UP NEXT: The Bold travel to Waterloo, Ont. on Saturday night to take on the Waterloo Warriors in their first of six consecutive road games. Puck drop is set for 7:00 p.m.
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