By Noah Curitti

The Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) Bold women’s hockey team secured their first win of the 2025 campaign against the Nipissing Lakers with a final score of 3-1 at the Mattamy Athletic Centre (MAC) on Thursday night. 

Looking to improve their 11-16 record from last season, an excited and determined Bold were able to end their first preseason game in victory as they prepared for the regular season. 

The Bold were brought out onto the ice by new captain and fifth-year forward Cailey Davis. Davis is the ninth captain in program history. 

“She’s one of the smartest players on the ice, one of the smartest I’ve coached. She has what is best for the team and a lot of strong characteristics to make a great captain. The decision was pretty clear cut,” said Bold head coach Lisa Haley.

The Bold opened up the first period with multiple scoring opportunities created by their offence, chipping away at the Nipissing defence. 

Both teams appeared to be very defensive until late in the frame when TMU exploded with two goals minutes apart from each other. Finding the puck, Davis sent a pass straight to second-year defenceman Nahvin Bal who was able to get TMU on the board. Two minutes later, first-year forward Riley Del Monte held onto the puck and passed it to first-year forward Abby Fletcher who scored the Bold’s second goal.

“We are a young team and we have a lot of people that we have to get back into mid-season form so they’re getting back into the groove themselves,” said Haley.

Starting the second period, TMU continued where they left off. Staying resilient in defence and aggressive in attack, the Bold created early chances that kept the Lakers in their own zone. TMU went back on the powerplay but could not create much—a recurring theme that would continue in the period. 

Nipissing continued to struggle offensively until a breakthrough in the middle of the period. A shot in traffic slipped through TMU first-year goalie Sydney Pyburn’s pads and into the back of the net, giving the Lakers one back. This resulted in the Bold switching goalies, with third-year Shannon Harris entering the game. 

“We try to get them both into the game as quickly as possible and it’s something we typically do in preseason is to try and split games so every goalie can get in as quick as possible,” said Haley. 

Harris sprung into immediate action, stopping Lakers chances by commanding the crease and keeping any danger out of the net. 

Strong Bold defence was rewarded late in the frame as a counter-attack led to fourth-year defence/forward Ahalya Julien-Medeiros scoring TMU’s third goal of the night.

TMU went into another power play opportunity, but could not cash in as they headed into the break leading with two goals. 

The final period of play showed both teams experimenting with their lineups, giving everyone a chance to get some ice time. 

The Bold had six power plays on the night but could not capitalize on any of them, which may be something that they want to improve on in preparation for the season. 

“We spent 20 minutes on it in practice so we’ll get there. We have eight exhibition games to figure it out,” said Haley.

TMU stuck to their principles and were able to see off any Nipissing threats as they secured the win on home ice, a positive start to the season for the Bold. 

UP NEXT: TMU look to face-off against the York University Lions on Sept. 14 at Canlan Ice Sports. Puck-drop is set for 2 p.m.