By Victoria Cha
The Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) Bold men’s hockey team lost 4-2 to the University of Toronto (U of T) Varsity Blues in their regular season home opener at the Mattamy Athletic Centre (MAC) on Wednesday night.
The Bold hit home ice for the first time in the regular season after starting on the road. Their first two matchups of the season saw them pick up 1-5 and 3-6 losses against the Carleton Ravens and the Ottawa Gee-Gees respectively last weekend.
Despite their attempts at levelling the Blues’ offensive power, the Bold couldn’t find their footing, leaving them with a three-game losing streak to open the year.
“It’s a tough start [with] a couple of really tough teams. Some bounces here and there could have gone differently but this is the situation we’re in and we’re going to come out and be desperate,” said head coach Johnny Duco.
With a disoriented start from the Bold and found strength in offence from the Blues, the first period was one-sided.
A misplaced pass from first-year defenceman Joseph Ianniello to third-year Blues forward Eddie Yan almost resulted in an odd-man rush goal for the Blues. Continuous shots on goal from U of T kept them dominating at the start of the first period.
A boarding penalty gave U of T a power play and their first goal, which was scored with a powerful hit to the back of the net by Yan after precise passes by third-year forward Zach Smith and first-year forward Dylan Wightman.
While TMU received their first power play of the game, they were unable to bury their two attempted shots and ended the period with the Blues in the lead.
The second period opened up with a more determined effort from the Bold. An early U of T tripping penalty gave TMU the upper hand and their first goal. First-year forward Tyler Savard found the opportunity to send a clean shot along the ice, straight into the net. It was Savard’s first Ontario University Athletics (OUA) career goal.
“It feels good. It’s always nice to get the monkey off your back early in the season,” said Savard.
The game didn’t stay tied up for long. Minutes after Savard’s goal, fourth-year forward Owen Robinson landed a rebound goal for the Blues, finding the puck in his possession after a deflected first attempt by third-year forward Nicholas Wong, making the score 2-1.
Though TMU couldn’t seem to execute offensively, their defence pulled through to kill two U of T power plays later in the period, keeping them within a goal.
First-year forward Julian Fantino tried to find as many opportunities to score for the Bold as TMU fired a flurry of shots on goal in the third period. However, it was ultimately second-year U of T forward Julian Recine who added to the scoreboard.
Recine wove his way through his TMU opponents to find easy access to score, where he then gave the puck a strong strike toward the bottom-left of the net.
Six minutes later, second-year forward Jaden Condotta fired a point shot through traffic in the last 10 seconds of a TMU power play, picking up his first goal of the season.
With the gap closing at 3-2, the Bold tried to keep the momentum going with another slew of shots but could not beat first-year Varsity Blues goaltender Sebastian Resar.
Coming out of a TMU timeout, the Bold pulled third-year goalie Kai Edmonds in hopes of getting a better offensive chance to tie the game but fell short of any attempt. Fourth-year forward Billy Moskal gave U of T an empty-net goal in the last 20 seconds of play.
With no time to regroup and recover, the Bold faced a disappointing end to their home opener, with a final score of 4-2 against their Toronto rivals.
Duco said things aren’t quite clicking for his team yet but he believes they can turn it around.
“A little bit of higher execution [and] a little bit more focus and bearing down on those opportunities … can be the difference. You leave disappointed, but [I still have] a lot of confidence,” he said.
UP NEXT: The Bold prepare to face the Wilfred Laurier Golden Hawks on Thursday in Waterloo, Ont. at the Waterloo Memorial Recreation Complex. Puck-drop is set for 7 p.m.
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