By Tristan Forde
The Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) men’s hockey team beat the York Lions in a tight 3-2 game on Friday night, taking it all the way to the shootout at the Mattamy Athletic Centre (MAC).
The Bold entered their home tundra, donning new shimmering gold jerseys, with the plan to extend their five-game win streak after their 4-1 win over the University of Toronto Varsity Blues. Meanwhile, the Lions invaded the Bold nest aiming to steal the win after suffering a 2-0 loss to the Ontario Tech Ridgebacks.
The Bold, however, had to prove they could keep that shape after a 13-day break from Ontario University Athletics hockey.
“With a bye-week last week we saw some of that rust in our lack of execution, I thought the overall energy and effort the guys brought was solid,” said head coach Johnny Duco.
After puck drop, there was a quick start to the game to set the tone. Carrying majority of the puck possession, the Bold controlled the flow of the game. Third-year defender Jaden Condotta turned the jets on and played a significant role in putting a halt to the Lions’ pounces.
In his first game after returning from the International University Sports Federation (FISU) tournament, third-year goalie Kai Edmonds returned with a new determination and was able to keep the Bold in control with 12 saves in the first period and 28 saves over the course of the game.
“It was an awesome experience being able to go back and represent my country and wear the Canada jersey,” said Edmonds. “It’s just a special feeling.”
The FISU tournament took place from Jan 13. to 23. Edmonds and third-year forward Connor Bowie were invited to compete with Team Canada at the FISU World University Games, formerly the Universiade, where they ended up bringing home the first place medal. This came with help and direction from Duco, who was called to the tournament as an assistant coach.
In order to keep the Lions in competition, first-year forward Olivier Lamothe squeezed past TMU’s defence and just tapped the puck into the net. This gave the Lions an early advantage.
Second-year Bold forward Daniil Grigorev would retaliate shortly after with a clean snipe past the Lions’ defenders. The first period would conclude with the score tied at 1-1.
Right from the get-go of the second period, the Bold took control of the rink and played their way deep into the Lions’ half. After slowing down their approach, the Lions regrouped right before organizing their own attempted assault on the net.
Both teams spent the majority of the period skating in laps around the rink in a deadlock of blocking each other. Neither team would end up scoring at all in the period after plenty of attempts on net.
“We feel confident that if we bring our effort and our execution for 60 minutes we can beat any team,” said Duco.
As the third period initiated, the deadlock continued. Neither team made a mistake on offence or defence. An early power play for the Bold put some more momentum behind their backs as they applied more pressure onto the Lions’ guard.
With about eight minutes to go in the period, third-year forward Ian Martin subtly scored for the Bold with a backhander from the slot, finally giving the home team a lead. But fueled by the Lions’ pride, Lamothe stalked his prey across the rink and stepped into a slapshot, catching Edmonds off guard and finding the back of the net.
Tensions rose as the final period quickly approached its conclusion Both teams were throwing it all on the ice to score the final point—bodies slammed on the glass, skates glided across the ice and loud voices reverberated from both players and fans. The energy picked up in a tense sprint to the finish line.
But neither team would score for the final period and both teams would return to their benches before overtime began.
“Anytime you’re two weeks between this level of competition where there are points on the board, it’s a little bit tough to prepare,” said Duco.
During overtime, both teams would play noticeably slower and more methodically. The whole arena sat on the edges of their seats, waiting to see which team would slip up first and secure a goal for the opposition.
Fourth-year forward Kevin Gursoy took a bold step forward for the Bold to make an attempted shot on the net. After a dizzying spin move just outside the goal he struck the puck to the crossbar.
The Lions quickly recognized this error, and tried to capitalize on it as they made a breakaway for the net. They quickly approached the final roadblock on the highway to victory, the two-time FISU champion goalie, Edmonds.
“Team-wise we were the favorites at that tournament [FISU], against some not-so-great [opponents], so I think there is a little bit of adjusting to do,” said Edmonds.
Lamothe had an attempt on net, after receiving the puck from a fast breakaway. But Edmonds made quick work and finally shut down the Lions forward.
In less than 30 seconds, the Lions would make another pursuit on the goal. Lamothe approached the Ottawa product at the net once again, hoping to leave as the alpha of this pride. Edmonds swung out his right arm and swiftly stopped the shot.
“[Edmonds is] one of the best in the whole country, for him to come back is obviously a huge add,” said Gursoy.
Overtime would finish with a menacing standing block from Martin. As the siren rang, both teams returned to the bench for one final meeting before the shootout began.
First-year Lions forward Harry Clark made an attempt on the net, but it was denied by Edmonds. Gursoy would approach the Lions’ den with one of the more recent maneuvers he’s been refining.
“I had a move I’ve been working on in practice and it has a little bit of variation to it,” said Gursoy, “[I] made a move to my backhand, and he came across pretty hard, so I just brought over to my forehand and had an open net.”
First-year forward Chase Sandhu made an attempt to tie up the game for the Lions, but Edmonds maintained the lead. Grigorev made quick work of the Lions’ goaltender with a patient deke and scored, icing the game and handing the Bold a 3-2 victory.
“We’ll bring a better effort [next game], we’ll be a little sharper, a little crisper,” said Duco.
UP NEXT: The Bold will return to the MAC on Feb. 1 to play against the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks. Puck-drop is set for 6:15 p.m.
Leave a Reply