By Eliza Nwaesei
The Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) Bold men’s hockey team lost 3-2 to the Queen’s Gaels in a close game at the Mattamy Athletic Centre (MAC) on Saturday night.
The Bold met the Gaels in their last home game of the year with a two-game win streak after a 5-2 triumph against the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières Patriotes and a 6-2 victory over the Western Mustangs.
With hopes to continue the win streak, the Bold had too many missteps against the Gaels. The seventh nationally ranked team, as of Nov. 18, came to the game with a 12-3 overall record and sits second in the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) East division. With the 3-2 defeat, the Bold now register an 8-8 record.
“We knew it was going to be a bit of a chess match against a team like this,” said Bold head coach Johnny Duco. “You can’t make mistakes and you’ve got to play the long game.”
The Bold started off with good momentum. They played with a sense of urgency and speed, setting a rather positive tone at the beginning of the first period.
As TMU pushed offensively and created plenty of high-danger shots on goal, a closing hand on puck penalty gave them their first power play. With quality shots from third-year defender Jaden Condotta, third-year forward Connor Bowie and third-year forward Ian Martin, the puck was unable to find the back of the net.
Following the powerplay, the Bold could not seem to find tape-to-tape connections, resulting in several lost pucks.
“It sucks losing, but I think we played well,” said Condotta. “Just a couple costly turnovers, but we’ll learn from them and be ready to go next game.”
In the last three minutes of play, after beating Bowie in the race to a loose puck exiting the Gaels defensive zone, second-year forward Daniel Michaud sent an unassisted sniper shot that bounced off the post into the net.
The Gaels’ momentum didn’t end here. Fourth-year forward Holden Katzalay placed a cross-ice pass to the slot and fourth-year Nolan Hutcheson sent it into the net just over a minute after their first goal.
The Bold opened the second period with consistent shots. However the Gaels retaliated, causing both goalies—fourth-year Christian Purboo and third-year Kai Edmonds—to have to put in a shift. The second period ended with the Bold leading 27-23 in shots on goals, though the Gaels led 2-0.
Tensions rose at the beginning of the third period. A minute into the third period, the Bold scored. Martin manoeuvred his way down the right wing into the offensive zone and took a shot right before the goal line, which resulted in a deflection off third-year forward Lucas Peric ending in an own-goal. This goal created momentum for the Bold.
This momentum was short-lived. First-year forward Julian Fantino received a penalty for charging when he hit Katzalay from behind.
“When you take selfish penalties like Fantino did there, they end up in the back of your net and it costs you a hockey game,” said Duco.
This in fact did cost them the game. While the Bold tried to kill the penalty, the Gaels took many shots that did not go in. Notably, first-year forward Spencer Shugrue made a body block save, bringing the penalty kill time to 51 seconds. With time chipping away, a chaotic scramble by the Bold led to an opening in their defence, setting up second-year Gaels forward Cameron Tolnai to send a rifle shot and score the third one of the night.
With five minutes left in the game, the tension converted into built-up aggression causing small fights between the Bold and the Gaels. TMU was visibly unhappy with their overall performance. Condotta opened up an opportunity for a comeback with a slap shot down the slot and into the net to close down the gap by only one goal.
“It felt good,” said Condotta. “It’s good to get some goals, but it’s a little late.”
With the period coming to an end, the Bold pulled Edmonds from the goal to give hope—and a man advantage—to try and turn the game around. The Bold reset and made their way down to the offensive zone, getting a close call with a loose puck, which was saved by Purboo, who had a stellar performance the entire game with 45 saves.
In the end, the Bold were unable to convert. Fourth-year defender Joe Rupoli stated that this loss wasn’t due to a lack of shots.
“We put up 47 shots tonight,” said Rupoli. “In our last three weeks of playing, we’ve had a lot of momentum, a lot of wins, so [we’re] putting this one behind us and just getting ready for the next two.”
UP NEXT: The Bold will face Western again, who sit first in the OUA West division with an 8-5 record, at Thompson Arena in London, Ont. on Nov. 29. Puck-drop is set at 7 p.m.
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