By Evan Davis
The Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) Bold men’s hockey team defeated the University of Toronto (U of T) Varsity Blues 2-1 in front of the home crowd at the Mattamy Athletic Centre (MAC) on Sunday night, claiming their spot in the Queen’s Cup final as well as the U Cup national tournament.
After trailing the series 1-0 with a loss on March 5, the Bold mustered up two hard-fought victories to win the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) West division and clinched a berth in the provincial final against the Concordia Stingers.
“I couldn’t be prouder of this group…and I think it speaks to the leadership of Chris Playfair, Kevin Gursoy, Joe Rupoli and Connor Bowie…It is without a doubt the reason we are here today,” said Bold head coach, Johnny Duco.
The Varsity Blues came out firing on all cylinders in the opening five minutes, however, the Bold responded with physicality and finally tested third-year Varsity Blues goaltender Rayce Ramsay. U of T controlled the first half of the first period, limiting the Bold’s chances and dominating the offensive zone time.
However, the second half of the first period was controlled by the Bold, in part thanks to forcing the Varsity Blues into three penalties. The third penalty came late in the first period from standout third-year Varsity Blues defenceman Mark Cooper, who was assessed a double minor for high-sticking second-year defenceman Jaden Raad, who went to the bench with a bloody mouth. A scary incident, but Raad was able to stay in the game.
The Bold finished the period with 13 shots, holding the Varsity Blues shottless in the final 10 minutes of the period. After posting a dominant third period in Game 2, the Bold carried the momentum heading into the most pivotal final game of the series.
With both sides struggling to break the deadlock, the score remained 0-0 heading into the middle frame.
The Bold started the second period on the power play for 2:52, which felt like the perfect time to solve Varsity Blues goaltender Rayce Ramsay, but he continued to remain poised in his net. The Bold generated numerous opportunities to get one past the glove or blocker of the Varsity Blues goaltender, but he rejected them every single time.
Once the penalty was killed and Cooper was out of the box, momentum shifted in favour of the Varsity Blues. They continued to pepper third-year Bold goaltender Kai Edmonds with shots, but he remained stout in the net and did not allow many second-chance opportunities.
Shortly after a grade-A chance for the Varsity Blues, TMU took it the other way and continued to test Ramsay. A shot from first-year Bold defenceman Joseph Ianniello went off the glove of Ramsay and behind his pad, falling in place for first-year forward Spencer Shugrue to pick up his second goal of the playoffs and give the Bold a 1-0.
“We feed off them…they’ve been great these playoffs,” said Shugrue of the crowd at the MAC. He’s no stranger to scoring big goals, having netted the overtime winner versus the Lakehead Thunderwolves in Game 1 of the quarter-finals series.
The remainder of the period was a lot of what we had seen throughout the game: U of T owning the puck possession battle. Edmonds stopped all 15 shots he faced in the frame, allowing for the Bold to head to the third period with a 1-0 lead.
With the Varsity Blues needing to play desperately in the third period, their game plan was to fire anything and everything towards Edmonds’ net. For them, any shot was a good shot. For their part, the Bold put up a fort, clogging the middle of ice and forcing the Varsity Blues into some tough shots.
However, fourth-year Bold forward Kevin Gursoy was not going to wait long to get the all-important insurance marker. Taking off down the wing, he wired a shot past the blocker of Ramsay just 1:28 into the third period. It was Gursoy’s second goal in as many games, and it proved to be the game-winner in this one.
Edmonds continued to do his job for the Bold, stopping 26 of 27 shots in the contest, adding to his 1.92 goals against average and .938 save percentage throughout these playoffs. He was the reason the Bold won this game—if not for his big-time saves in Game 2 and Game 3, then the Bold would not be in this position, competing for their first Queen’s Cup.
“You can tell he was dialed in,” said Duco, who has led the team to the Queen’s Cup finals for a second year in a row after a 1-5 record to begin the year.
Five minutes after Gursoy’s goal, first-year Varsity Blues forward Dylan Wightman got his team to within one. That would be all the offence for the Varsity Blues, who only scored one goal in the last four periods of the series.
Their inability to generate grade-A chances, along with Edmonds not giving up many big rebounds, was the main reason the Bold walked away from this game victorious.
The Bold will now host the best team in the OUA East, the Stingers—who finished the regular season with an OUA best 21-7 record. Just like the Bold these playoffs, Concordia have only lost once.
“[Concordia] took us pretty good the first time we played them this year, so we have some revenge to do there,” said Shugrue, who was part of the 5-2 loss against the Stingers back on Oct. 18, 2024.
UP NEXT: The Bold will host the Concordia Stingers in the OUA Queen’s Cup final on March 15. Puck-drop is scheduled for 6:15 p.m.
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