By Adriana Fallico
The Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) Bold men’s hockey team defeated the McGill Redbirds 5-2 on Saturday night at the Mattamy Athletic Centre (MAC) in the second half of a back-to-back.
After playing the night before in Windsor, TMU head coach Johnny Duco credited his team for rebounding after a long night of travel back to Toronto.
“We didn’t get back here until three o’clock in the morning, in the middle of a snowstorm, not a ton of time to recover against a McGill team that’s a fantastic hockey team,” said Duco. “The guys really stuck together.”
The game started as a steady, back-and-forth battle as both teams applied pressure early on. TMU couldn’t capitalize on the first powerplay, but the energy slowly swung in the home side’s favour, resulting in the game’s opening goal.
Second-year Bold forward William Portokalis fired the puck past third-year Redbirds netminder Alexis Shank, giving the Bold the 1-0 advantage.
Despite the Bold’s strong start, the Redbirds quickly found their feet. Less than five minutes into the second period, the Redbirds tied the game with a snipe from third-year forward Zach Gallant that beat Bold second-year goaltender Ryan Dugas.
“We want to get engaged right off the bat and tell McGill to come and get it and they’re not getting shit from us“
Just 41 seconds later, second-year forward Patrick Larkin added another to put the visitors ahead.
Midway through the second period, Shank took a hit to the head, resulting in a five-minute stoppage of play.
Fourth-year goaltender Oscar Carsley went into the game in relief after Shank went down the tunnel, but the starting netminder returned to the ice after only three minutes of action.
Following the hit, the physicality escalated between both teams. Players traded hits and jabs after whistles, adding to the intensity of the game.
“We embrace it, we love the physicality,” said third-year forward Kyle Bollers. “We want to get engaged right off the bat and tell McGill to come and get it and they’re not getting shit from us.”
With the back-to-back, Dugas got the start for the Bold. Duco said Dugas was “absolutely fantastic” in his third start of the season by stopping 30 of 32 shots.
“Every time his name is [called] he plays great, he gives us a chance to win. [I’m] really happy for him,” Duco said.
Dugas’ most impressive moment of the night came late in the second period when he flashed the leather glove in a diving save.
“I was pissed about a call, so I was like ‘screw these guys,’ and then I was still pissed about a few things going on,” said Dugas about his flashy save. “Plays happen and sometimes things just hit you, but that was nice for sure.”
The Bold came out flying to start the third period. Second-year TMU forward Ian Martin softly threw a rolling puck on goal that squeaked behind Shank to even the score at two apiece.
“Every time his name is [called] he plays great, he gives us a chance to win”
48 seconds later, Bollers rifled a shot top-shelf and past the Redbirds’ netminder to give the Bold a 3-2 lead.
Bollers’ team-leading 14th marker of the season was initially wrongly credited to third-year forward Carson Gallagher but ultimately stood as the game-winning goal.
“[Ryan Wells] had the puck in the corner, chipped it out and the defence kind of batted it down for me,” said Bollers. “I went on a two-on-one…and honestly I was thinking ‘pass’ the whole time and the defence didn’t give it to me, so I put it on net, picked a corner and it went in.”
Two empty-net goals from third-year defenseman Elijah Roberts and Bollers sealed the win for the Bold. The latter tied Bollers in second place for goals in Ontario University Athletics with 15.
Duco highlighted that the team will focus on “rest and recovery” over the next two days and prioritize the guys who didn’t play as many minutes or get in the lineup over the weekend.
“It’s good to have a couple of practices, getting ready for Laurier…a team we certainly have a tough time [with],” said Duco. “We’re going to have to be dialled in and ready to go.”
UP NEXT: The Bold face off against the Laurier Golden Hawks on Jan. 18 at the MAC. Puck drop is slated for 6:00 p.m.
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