By Emerson Williams
The Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) Bold men’s hockey team hit a wall in their three-game win streak last night, losing to the University of Windsor Lancers 3-2 in overtime on Friday night at the Mattamy Athletic Centre (MAC).
With fourth-year forward Aleks Dimovski off sick, the Bold went into the game with an initial roadblock. According to head coach Johnny Duco, Dimovski’s absence left an anticipated hole in the team’s playing strategy, forcing coaches to try unpracticed line combinations.
“We ended up having to have three-line juggles, which kind of sucks. We practiced all week to kind of get ready and then we had to make that change,” Duco said post-game.
The Bold came out strong in the game’s first period. Second-year forward Daniil Grigorev won the opening faceoff before putting the first shot on the board with a wrist shot five feet from the Windsor net, which was saved by fourth-year Lancers goaltender Nathan Torchia.
Fast defensive transitions from the Bold kept the action in the Lancers’ territory. The Lancers responded with aggressive defence, pinching often to try to stop the Bold before they could get moving. Third-year Windsor defender Dylan Schives lost his stick in an early possession battle, then used his skates to pass the puck along the blue line and keep the visitors in control.
Third-year Bold goaltender Kai Edmonds quickly found his own creative methods to gain the upper hand, slapping a lifted shot away from the Bold’s net using his blocker.
Without points on the scoreboard, Windsor continued their physical method of play. It caught up to them when fourth-year defender Matt McNamara received a penalty for hooking after attempting to keep Bold fourth-year forward Chris Playfair from scoring on a rush but the Bold were unable to capitalize on the power play.
Still, the Bold kept their momentum and broke through. First-year forward Spencer Shugrue capitalized on a toss-around of the puck between first-year forwards Julian Fantino and Matthew Kinash, deflecting the puck into the corner of Torchia’s net for the Bold’s first goal of the game and his second of the season.
“It was great to see him be rewarded today because he’s been an absolute warrior for us so far this year,” Duco said of Shugrue’s performance post-game. “He’s been an unsung hero for us, night in, night out.”
Quickly, the Bold widened the gap. With a wrap-around pass from first-year forward Jordan D’Intino, third-year forward Connor Bowie doubled the score with a slapping one-timer a couple of feet from the Lancers’ net. Combined with a key three-on-one save from Edmonds, the Bold seemed set to exit the first period with a confident 2-0 lead.
However, the Lancers were prepared for a counter-attack. Similar to D’Intino, Schives emerged from behind the Bold’s net, searching for an opening. Third-year Lancers forward Aaron Shaw was available and upon receiving Schives’ pass, dumped the puck into the corner of Edmonds’ net.
With the score at 2-1 at the end of the first period, the Bold held control but were threatened by the momentum the Lancers earned out of a late goal
To start the second period, the Bold struggled to gain their bearings in the face of missed opportunities. When the puck became loose outside of Torchia’s crease, fourth-year Bold forward Jackson Doherty missed the chance to tap it in for a third Bold goal.
This was followed up by physical retaliation from D’Intino. In a defensive attempt to get Lancers second-year defender David Jesus away from poke-checking for possession, D’Intino received a two-minute penalty for hooking.
D’Intino in the box was a perfect addition to a series of fruitless plays for the Bold that gave way for the Lancers to strike. Patrolling deep in the Bold’s zone, Jesus rocketed the puck up to the blue line to McNamara, whose wrist shot through a traffic jam of Bold defenders found a way through Edmonds’ five-hole. The power play strike brought the game to a level score of 2-2.
For Duco, seeing D’Intino in the box was a tough sight.
“[Penalties] have been an Achilles heel for us this year,” he said. “It costs us in games. Something we’ve really been focusing on is discipline.”
Tensions raised with Bowie instigating a scrap at the next whistle. This fanned the flames of the Lancers’ already aggressive playing style. Second-year Lancers forward Travis Hensrud soon landed a penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct, while second-year forward Johnny Ulicny followed with a penalty for hooking. Even with several shots on net from fourth-year Bold forward Kevin Gursoy, both TMU power-plays bore no results for the Bold, maintaining the 2-2 tie into the second intermission.
For Edmonds, there was one key mistake that he noticed from the net he wanted his team to improve upon.
“I think we need to do a better job at taking eyes away and making [the other goalie’s] life difficult,” Edmonds said post-game. “You can make the goalie [comfortable] in the game when you give him easy shots. I think we need to be doing everything we can.”
The third period started off rocky for the Bold with Kinash going down after an intense hit against the boards. He sat still on the ice before being assisted off by Bold training staff.
Edmonds wasn’t shaken by the blow to the team’s structure. He stayed in front of shot after shot, even with Shugrue and second-year Lancers defender Aaron Chiarot colliding into his net.
Despite the reliability of Edmonds, the Bold’s struggle to take advantage of chances continued. After first-year Lancers defender Matthew Milic took a penalty for tripping, the Bold missed four consecutive shooting opportunities. A timeout called by Duco failed to relax the Bold, with losses for Bowie at the faceoff and a failed slapshot, which were the only takeaways from a second power play in the period.
“At the end of the day, our special teams [weren’t] good enough,” said Duco.
Despite a strong period with plenty of opportunity to score, the Bold saw regulation come to a quiet close. The teams entered overtime still tied at 2-2, with the Bold leading 40-22 in shots on goal.
Sudden death in overtime began with a 4-on-3 advantage for the Bold as Jesus finished a tripping penalty from the previous period. The Bold showed immediate eagerness, keeping possession in the Lancers’ zone. Gursoy had their best look on a breakaway but was quickly steered into the corner and away from Windsor’s net by defenders.
The puck stayed in the Lancers’ end where the Bold showed off some complex puck movement. Doherty dunked a no-look pass to Bowie off the boards for an unsuccessful wrist shot. Bowie gained possession soon after and patrolled around the net, only to be checked hard by Windsor defenders in an attempted deke around them.
The Lancers then took full advantage of the Bold’s time to catch their breath. Shaw wheeled up the ice into a one-on-one with first-year Bold defender Joseph Ianniello, pulling the puck behind him and through his own legs as he drove toward the Bold net. Shaw finished the move by shoving the puck past the pads of Edmonds, sealing a 3-2 win for the Lancers.
The loss was hard on Bowie ahead of the Bold’s anticipated game against The Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières Patriotes (UQTR) on Nov. 16. The Bold lost to the Patriotes in overtime in the Queen’s Cup finals last year. Still, there were promising aspects Bowie saw in his team’s performance.
“I think our forecheck was pretty good and I think we finally established a forecheck that we haven’t really had this year,” said Bowie. “Just got to translate [our positives] into goals.”
UP NEXT: The TMU will face off against UQTR on Nov. 16 at the MAC. Puck-drop is set at 6:15 p.m.
Leave a Reply