By Keiran Gorsky
The Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) Bold women’s hockey team fell 4-2 to the Bishop’s University Gaiters in their first action of the pre-season at the Mattamy Athletic Centre (MAC) on Sunday afternoon.
The game provided the first appearances for five new arrivals to a Bold team looking to rejuvenate after a tumultuous 2023-24 season.
It didn’t take the new-look Bold long to capitalize off a disjointed start, with a familiar name finding the back of the net.
A stretch pass out from TMU’s defensive zone hopped over the blade of Bishop’s fourth-year forward Jamie Aspropotamitis onto the stick of Bold graduate forward Emily Baxter. The Bold’s leading scorer a year ago beat first-year goaltender Ericka Gagnon with a wrist shot off the breakaway and 47 seconds into the game, TMU held a 1-0 lead.
The second goal came just a few minutes later in a similar fashion. Two consecutive Bold penalties just five minutes in left the home team to kill off a 5-on-3 penalty. This time, it was fourth-year defender Megan Breen who found herself behind an overcommitted Gaiters’ defence and beat Gagnon on another breakaway.
Meanwhile, first-year Bishop’s forward Naomi Côté looking the most threatening in Bishop’s purple and white, failed to convert on consecutive odd-man rushes as the first frame drew to a close. It was third-year Gaiters forward Gabrielle Santerre who skated the length of the ice and beat second-year Bold goaltender Shannon Harris glove side to leave the scoreboard 2-1 at the end of the period.
The tides turned in the second period as the Gaiters took the momentum they mounted in the first and started throwing more shots on net. The pucks were plentiful but not always threatening—second-year Gaiters forward Avery Amos flipped the puck directly into Harris’ crest on a 2-on-1 rush.
Halfway through the period, fourth-year Gaiters forward Neleh Vigneau Sargeant took control, skating the puck up the ice and weaving around TMU’s defence with ease. After an extended individual effort that saw her slip behind the Bold net, she fed the puck to fifth-year forward Maude Pépin who likewise failed to find the back of the net.
Fun Fact: The name ‘Gaiters’ comes from a nickname for the garments worn by Anglican bishops, not from the terrifying apex predator—though the school’s official mascot is a purple alligator.
Still, the Gaiters persisted and eventually tied the game in the final minute of the middle frame. A snap shot from first-year Bishop’s forward Noémie Fontaine took a double deflection en route to the net, tipping off fifth-year forward Angélique Pagé before sailing past Harris. The score was knotted at two, though the Gaiters had jumped out to a 28-18 lead in shots.
The game slipped out of TMU’s grasp in the third period. First-year Bishop’s defender Daphné Boutin, who had taken a hard tumble onto the ice in the corner of her offensive zone, finessed the puck through the crease and onto the stick of Pépin, who poked it in off the ensuing scramble.
Pépin doubled up less than two minutes later, backhanding a shot past Harris from almost the same spot on the edge of the crease.
A shoving match between fourth-year TMU forward Payton Kerr and fifth-year Bishop’s forward Majorie Bolduc—prompting incidental minors—left a tense cloud over an uneventful third period. The referees strained to keep the peace after every whistle, while the Bold ultimately failed to mount a comeback of their own.
UP NEXT: Pre-season action continues along, as the Bold take on the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks on Friday, Sept. 20 at the MAC at 6:15 p.m.
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