By Todd Ash-Duah
The Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) Bold’s men’s soccer team defeated the Laurentian Voyageurs 7-1 on a cold, rainy afternoon at Downsview Park on Sunday.
Off the back of a win against nationally-ranked Ontario Tech Ridgebacks on Saturday, the Bold handled Laurentian to secure their fourth straight win and remain undefeated at home this season.
“The reason why our performances have been so good is because everybody’s working so hard,” said TMU third-year forward Karamvir Mehmi, who scored two goals in the win over the Voyageurs.
Six minutes into the match, TMU struck first with a tap-in goal from third-year defender Tristan Marshall off a corner kick.
At the 13th-minute mark, the Bold struck again. First-year forward Kaostubh Bolla made a series of spectacular moves with the ball and made a slick pass to first-year forward Josiah Lorray, who capitalized to give the home squad a 2-0 lead.
Shortly after, the Bold had a chance to make it a 3-0 game, but fourth-year midfielder Chris Campoli was tackled hard in the box. However, no penalty was called and TMU turned the ball over shortly afterwards, leading to fans at Downsview Park voicing their displeasure.
The Bold weren’t done just yet. At the 28th-minute mark, TMU scored another goal with third-year forward Zakaria Abdi putting the ball into the net off a neat feed from third-year midfielder Jaylen Drummond. It was now 3-0 in favour of the Bold and they were in complete control of the match heading into the second half.
Coming out of the break, Laurentian decided to make a change in the net. They managed to manufacture something on offence, but the shot on goal from the visitors went wide right.
Then, TMU began to reassert their dominance. At the 55th-minute mark, second-year Bold midfielder Bilal Reslan stole the ball from a Laurentian player, which eventually led to a goal from Campoli—his team-leading sixth goal of the season—to put the Bold up 4-0.
The game was stopped for a moment after Voyageurs defender Andrew Steko was down on the field for a moment before getting up, much to the crowd’s acclaim at Downsview Park.
After the short stoppage, The Bold wasted no time to extend their lead, tacking on another goal when Mehmi scored his first goal of the game with a nifty strike.
In the 72nd minute, Laurentian finally got on the board when third-year midfielder Nicolas Patenaude scored. It was the first goal TMU allowed in three matches and the fourth they’ve conceded all season.
The Bold answered that response from the Voyageurs with a ruthless counter-attack, culminating in a goal when Mehmi notched his second goal of the game. This expanded their lead to five while fans cheered on in the nine-degree weather.
TMU would add one more strike late with first-year forward Mauro Lulli getting on the board to close out the scoring. Through the season’s first nine games, the Bold have outscored teams 23-4.
With the weekend sweep of the Ridgebacks and Voyageurs, the Bold now sit in third in the Ontario University Athletics East division with a 5-3 record.
“Having a positive attitude and mindset has been a huge X-factor for us,” said Mehmi.
UP NEXT: The TMU Bold head off to the nation’s capital to take on the Carleton Ravens at TAAG Park on Oct. 15 at 3:30 p.m.
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