By Alex Wauthy
Trigger warning: This story mentions suicide
The Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) Bold women’s hockey team lost 4-2 to the University of Toronto (U of T) Varsity Blues Saturday night at the Mattamy Athletic Centre (MAC).
Despite a career-high 38-save effort from first-year netminder Shannon Harris, the Bold couldn’t pull away against the Varsity Blues, extending their losing streak against their crosstown rivals to 14.
“It was a good game,” Harris said. “There were the three goals. [I] don’t think I could have done too much on [them].”
The Bold donned specialty purple jerseys for the annual Do It for Daron (DIFD) campaign game, with some TMU players opting to stylize their stick blades with purple tape to match their sweaters.
“There’s no question this is one of the most important events for us as a team every year, and for multiple reasons,” head coach Lisa Haley said.
The initiative originated after Daron Richardson, a young women’s hockey player, tragically took her own life in 2010. The DIFD campaign supports mental health education and awareness, encouraging young people to talk openly about it.
After her parents started the charity, two TMU alumni and Richardson’s former teammates, Cassie Sharp and Emma Rutherford, brought it to the university. The game has been held annually at TMU since the 2014-15 season.
“There’s no question this is one of the most important events for us as a team every year”
“I’m proud of our team for how they carry on that tradition and try to make a difference in fighting such a terrible disease like mental illness,” Haley said. “Everybody knows that their age is at the highest risk of suffering from mental illness, so even more so.”
The game opened with both teams getting their opportunities in the offensive end, but the Varsity Blues were slowly building momentum and racking up offensive zone time. However, a hooking call against third-year Varsity Blues forward Abby Howland 200 feet away from her net sent the Bold to the power play.
First-year TMU forward Neely Van Volsen stood out on the ensuing player advantage. After getting a high-danger opportunity, she would get the primary assist on the game’s opening goal.
Van Volsen received a pass from second-year defender Lauren McEachen then threaded the needle, sending a seam pass through traffic to an open third-year defender, Megan Breen. Breen ripped it short-side past third-year U of T goaltender Madison Roche to put her team up 1-0.
“We had some ‘Jekyll and Hyde’ moments,” Haley said. “The power play generated a lot of our offence today, and we knew those were going to be our best looks against U of T today—they’re pretty stingy five-on-five.”
Following their goal, the Bold got into penalty trouble. A cross-checking call on second-year defender Ahalya Julien-Medeiros gave U of T their first chance to knot the game at one. Despite spending the first 1:30 of the advantage in the offensive zone, they came up goalless—but their second power play moments later would yield a different result.
The referees sent second-year forward Gaby Gareau to the box for boarding with 9:17 remaining in the first. Eight seconds into the power play, U of T found the back of the net. A mad scramble in front of Harris allowed fifth-year U of T forward Taylor Trussler to shovel it past the outstretched netminder.
A third consecutive Varsity Blues power play followed late in the frame, but a massive save from Harris kept the game locked at one heading into the second period.
U of T took an infraction to close the period, meaning the Bold would begin the second period with 1:47 remaining on their player advantage.
“Our power play definitely kept us in the game today—we were right there knocking on the door”
TMU didn’t capitalize on their power play to start the second, which would be the story of the middle frame. The Bold would get three opportunities with the player advantage, including a five-on-three, but U of T’s penalty killers held off the home team’s attack.
Midway through the second frame, it seemed that the Varsity Blues scored the go-ahead goal. A deflected point shot bounced past Harris but the referee immediately waived off the goal, citing a high stick as the reason.
With the clock ticking down, Trussler received a pass just outside TMU’s blue line and skated into the Bold’s end on a three-on-one. She sent the puck to third-year forward Nikki McDonald, who sent it right back. Trussler tapped it into the open cage, netting her second of the game to put U of T up 2-1 with seconds to spare.
“We were ugly in the second period on our power play outside of the five-on-three, but we made some good adjustments and got the chances we needed,” Haley said. “Our power play definitely kept us in the game today—we were right there knocking on the door.”
The penalties persisted for U of T as their players continued to march to the box. Two minutes after offsetting minors to either team, a boarding penalty sent the Bold to the power play with 14:40 remaining in regulation.
Captain and fourth-year forward Emily Baxter scored her eleventh of the season off of a rebound, tying the game at two apiece.
The Bold got another player advantage moments later but the Varsity Blues clogged shooting lanes and kept TMU to the outside.
With 8:44 remaining, third-year forward Emma Irwin scored the go-ahead goal for the Varsity Blues, silencing the Bold crowd on the eventual game-winner.
Second-year forward Kaitlyn McKnight scored an empty-net goal with just over a minute remaining, adding the insurance marker for the Varsity Blues to cap off her three-point night.
Harris made a career-high 38 saves—earning the golden helmet given to a player after each game for the Bold—and extended her streak of getting a .919 save percentage or higher in each game played this season.
“It’s nice, especially on a loss,” Harris said regarding getting the gold helmet. “Some people usually turn their head and think, ‘Oh, it’s the goalie’s fault.’ But it’s nice to know that the team, especially this year, never think[s] [it’s the] goalie’s fault. It’s always ‘good job on the saves you made.'”
NEXT UP: The Bold look to snap their five-game skid in a Friday morning matinee versus the Brock Badgers at the MAC on Jan. 26. Puck drop is at 11:15 a.m.
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