By Eliza Nwaesei
The Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) Bold men’s hockey team won 4-1 against the University of Toronto (U of T) Varsity Blues in a subway series game at the Mattamy Athletic Centre (MAC) on Saturday afternoon.
Both teams entered the matchup riding four-game winning streaks, making it anyone’s game to win. With comparable stats, they met just one point apart at the top of the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) West standings—the Bold and the Varsity Blues sat first and second respectively at 25 and 24 points prior to the game.
In the second meeting between the two teams, the Bold—who were wearing their new golden jerseys for the first time at home—were the better team, and now, they hold a perfect record in the new year and distance themselves from second place.
“Coming into the game we definitely identified how tight the standings were and how big of a game it was and what it could do for us to create a little separation in the standings.” said assistant coach Michael Fine.
The start of the first period saw the Varsity Blues win the opening face-off, however, they had little chance to mount anything. Less than a minute in, first-year Varsity Blues defenceman Mark Cooper took a penalty for slashing. A common theme and a game-changer for the Bold has been making sure that special teams follow through and the early power play gave them a premium opportunity.
Following a setup from fourth-year Bold forward Aleks Dimovski across the blue line for first-year defenceman Joseph Ianniello to fire a high shot toward the net, third-year forward Ian Martin was able to finish the power play on a high note by whacking the loose puck into the net.
Fine—who is filling in for head coach Johnny Duco—shared the importance of a goal like this.
“[Martin] is a veteran player, the guys love him,” said Fine. “To score early in games, especially at home, definitely puts the team at ease.”
Only two minutes later, TMU found themselves on the other side of the special teams battle with a call against second-year defenceman Jaden Raad for holding. The Bold held down the fort, though, with a flurry of blocked shots, including an unexpected one from fourth-year forward Kevin Gursoy.
“Guys just step up blocking shots. Kevin Gursoy is blocking shots,” said third-year Bold goalie Dugas with a laugh. “Like, you’ve never seen that in your life. That’s a headline right there, Kevin Gursoy blocks a shot.”
With the one-goal lead, TMU exuded confidence, holding possession of the puck, making sharp tape-to-tape passes and calculated plays. With a power play following a penalty called on second-year Varsity Blues forward Julian Recine for roughing, the Bold set up plays in the offensive zone, but couldn’t find the back of the net.
Though they scored on their first opportunity, Fine saw room for more on the player advantage.
“Today we generated chances but we just didn’t put the puck in the back of the net,” he said. “It comes down to executing and bearing down when we have those chances. I thought we had some good looks and credit to U of T, they bent, they didn’t break.”
With each team trading steady shots on goal, the period ended with a scrap between Raad and third-year Varsity Blues forward Graham Dickerson. Both skaters were dished out penalties for roughing, setting up the second period for a four-on-four start.
The second period started off with a burst of speed from U of T, who won at the face-off dot. The Varsity Blues moved down the ice into the offensive zone, looking for options and opportunities to tie up the game. Fourth-year forward Owen Robinson and Cooper played a back-and-forth game down the sides and around the boards, opening up Cooper in front of the net. He received a pass from Robinson looking to bury it, only to be stopped by third-year Bold defenceman Jaden Condotta who jutted out, poked the puck and snatched it.
Less than a minute later, with a troublesome turnover from third-year defenceman Liam Ross at the Bold’s blue line, second-year Varsity Blues forward Owen Hollingsworth captured the puck and passed it to third-year forward Nicholas Wong who danced around the Bold defence and tapped it in around Dugas. Wong’s 21st point of the season—in 21 games—brought the score to 1-1.
With the scoreboard tied, the physicality and aggression in the game started shifting into the spotlight.
The second period saw four penalties—two for each team. With nothing coming to fruition, both Dugas and third-year Varsity Blues goalie Rayce Ramsay made some stellar saves.
“Special teams is a funny one,” said Fine. “Sometimes you feel like you’re generating chances, but you don’t score and then at times where you feel like it’s not the greatest, you find a way to put the puck in the net.”
“It comes down to executing and bearing down when we have those chances. I thought we had some good looks and credit to U of T, they bent, they didn’t break”
Coming off of the U of T power play and with three minutes left of play in the middle frame, TMU regrouped with full power and first-year forward Jordan D’Intino brought the puck down into the Varsity Blues defensive zone and around the back of the net. Surveying his options, he found Raad at the top of the left faceoff circle, who took a slapshot towards the net that was redirected by first-year forward Slava Melikov down into the net. A second goal created from the point gave the Bold a goal advantage going into the final period.
“You can watch playoff hockey at any level, NHL down, those are the goals that go in, and it’s pretty simple hockey,” said Fine. “It’s getting pucks to the net, it’s getting traffic to the net, taking away the goalie’s eyes.”
The third period was a game of strong defence, bruising blocks and stellar saves. Down by a goal, the Varsity Blues found themselves chasing the Bold on the shot counter, the scoreboard and the ice.
With the added pressure, Dugas—who has played four consecutive games and earned his fourth straight win in the game—was intent on keeping a straight head in a rivalry game, part of getting into the groove these last few games.
“Not playing for a few months, it’s kind of nerve-wracking coming back, you don’t want to let the boys down,” said Dugas. “But it’s also nice showing everyone ‘Hey, I’m still here, I can still do this type of thing.’”
In the last few minutes of the game, the Varsity Blues pulled their goalie hoping to tie the game. Coming in close the Varsity Blues found Dugas shutting down all attempts, maintaining his ground and keeping pucks out of the crease.
Eventually, the Bold turned the puck the other way, as two empty net goals by Gursoy and third-year forward Will Portokalis wrapped up the 4-1 victory.
The Bold will have 13 days to rest before their next game. According to Fine, they will continue to improve on every aspect of their game before their next match.
“I want to score more goals, I want to keep more pucks out of our net, just working at it all,” said Fine.
UP NEXT: The Bold will face the York Lions, who sit second-last in the OUA West division with a 3-16 record, on Jan. 31. Puck-drop is set at 6:15 p.m. at the MAC.
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