By Evan Davis
The Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) Bold men’s hockey team slayed the dragon, defeating the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks 7-1 in commanding fashion on Thursday night at the Mattamy Athletic Centre, ending a six-game losing streak that dated back to Jan. 4, 2020.
Both teams were hot coming into this game, as the Golden Hawks were winners of five of their last six games while the Bold are now winners of five of their last seven.
“Laurier had our number the last two years, and we came in with the mindset we are not going to let that happen [again] and we showed it today,” said third-year TMU forward Kyle Bollers.
The Bold stormed out of the gates in the opening frame as third-year forward Kyle Bollers set up first-year forward Daniil Grigorev for his eighth of the season to give the team a 1-0 lead just over a minute into the opening frame.
“We didn’t know what we were going to get from him…he works hard,” said Bollers on Grigorev. “He should have way more than eight goals.”
“Laurier had our number the last two years and we came in with the mindset [that] we are not going to let that happen [again]”
Newcomer Bold defenceman Artem Duda also contributed an assist on the play, which now gives him assists in three straight games after being kept off the scoresheet in the first two games of his Ontario University Athletics career.
The Golden Hawks quickly settled back into the game as they searched for the equalizer. Just past the seven-minute mark of the period, third-year forward Nick Giunta tied the game up at one with a nice redirect that confused second-year Bold goaltender Kai Edmonds.
The lone Golden Hawks goal of the night was Giunta’s eighth of the season after having just a combined two goals in the previous two.
However, only 77 seconds after the Golden Hawks tied it, the Bold headed to their first powerplay but couldn’t capitalize with their very minimal chances.
As the period continued to progress the Golden Hawks found themselves without a shot on goal for seven minutes, which allowed for the Bold to gain some much-needed momentum late in the frame.
With just over two minutes left to go in the first period, a stretch pass by second-year forward Ian Martin found second-year forward Will Portokalis wide open in front of the net to restore the Bold lead heading into intermission.
Portokalis has scored goals in three straight for TMU, while Martin has notched points in three consecutive games.
Martin is in the midst of a career year after finishing last season with just one point in 12 games. This year, he has become a much more impactful player, tallying 13 points through 20 games.
“We challenged him this offseason to come back bigger, stronger [and] faster [to] elevate from a solid third-line guy that maybe didn’t contribute to the level we wanted offensively to someone who can be a 20-plus point player and help us win hockey games,” said head coach Johnny Duco. “We saw that tonight, he was great.”
The Bold continued their momentum into the middle frame. Two minutes into the period, third-year forward Elijah Roberts took a shot that was redirected by second-year forward Connor Bowie. The puck then found third-year captain Chris Playfair on his backhand, who roofed it in the open cage to extend TMU’s lead to two.
With the goal, the Bold captain snapped his 12-game goalless drought, with his last before Thursday night coming against the Royal Military College Paladins on Oct. 27, 2023.
As the game progressed, both teams upped their aggressiveness. Third-year defenceman Joe Rupoli got into a scuffle with Golden Hawks first-year forward Caleb Petrie after he and Playfair exchanged words at centre ice.
“I lived with Chris for a couple of years so I always have a soft spot for him,” said Rupoli, who also contributed to the score sheet with his second goal of the season later in the night.
With the game getting chippy, the Golden Hawks found themselves down two men, as the Bold had a five-on-three powerplay for 57 seconds.
The team capitalized on the two-man advantage as fourth-year defenceman Aaron Hyman blasted a one-timer that was able to sneak by Golden Hawks third-year goaltender Christian Propp to give the Bold a three-goal cushion.
“That was one of our best full 60 minutes of the year”
Shortly after extending the lead to three, a shot from Bollers bounced perfectly onto the stick of Bowie, who gave the Bold a commanding 5-1 lead.
Following Bowie’s marker, Propp was pulled in favour of Golden Hawks first-year backup netminder Ventsislav Shingarov after conceding five goals on 19 shots.
The Bold added two more in the third period with goals from Rupoli and Martin to ensure the 7-1 victory for the home side.
Edmonds backstopped the Bold to the win, stopping 29 of 30 shots in the contest—bouncing back after giving up five goals in his previous start against the Windsor Lancers.
Against the Golden Hawks, the Bold got contributions from all over the ice as 15 skaters got on the scoresheet and they look to carry this momentum into an upcoming five-game road trip.
“That was one of our best full 60 minutes of the year,” said Duco. “[We’re] really happy to get that win…crucial points that we had to have.”
UP NEXT: The Bold will look to extend their winning streak when they head to Oshawa, Ont. for a Saturday night matinee at Campus Ice Centre against the Ontario Tech Ridgebacks. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
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