By Francesco Cautillo

Kicking off the season

A new school year is underway at Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU), marking the return of TMU Bold athletics, with soccer being the first of the school’s varsity sports to kick off.

The TMU Bold women’s soccer team kicked off their Ontario University Athletics (OUA) season with a 2-1 loss against the Carleton University Ravens at their home field Downsview Park on Aug. 30. 

Looking for redemption, the squad was able to capture a confident 4-2 victory in a match against the Trent University Excalibur. During the game, second-year midfielder Mera Saleh scored twice, along with freshman forward Taylor Fazzari and second-year midfielder Natalie Moynihan who scored a stellar free-kick in the season-opener the day earlier. 

The Bold fell short in their third game against the Royal Military College Paladins, with their next two games coming against city rivals University of Toronto (U of T) Varsity Blues. After a 3-3 tie at home, the Bold were able to find a late winner and claim a 2-1 win on the road, giving them a 2-2-1 record. 

“I see that we’ve improved our team culture and I really believe that our team has been together more than in the last ten years or so,” said women’s soccer team head coach John Yacou.

The Bold men’s team also made the trip to Peterborough, Ont. for their opener against Trent on Aug. 31. Success followed the women’s team with another commanding win. 

Fifth-year midfielder Justin Santos paved the way in the Bold’s 5-2 win with a hat trick, gaining him the title of OUA Player of the Week. This victory allowed the Bold to rank third in the nation. With plenty of new additions to the roster and veterans like Santos at the forefront, the men’s team holds big expectations. 

The Bold have yet to show any signs of concern on the pitch, continuing the undefeated season after a narrow draw against the Queen’s University Gaels. However men’s soccer head coach Filip Prostran was quick to reassure, explaining, “I’d rather get some adversity during the season, and then in the playoffs not be foreign to it.”

After their wins over the Paladins and Laurentian University, the men’s squad settled for a point against the Nipissing University Lakers. However, unlike the women’s team, the Bold fell short against rivals U of T, ending their undefeated run in six games.

Fortunately, the Bold were able to bounce back with a 3-1 victory over Trent. The Bold currently rank sixth in the nation with a 4-1-2 record.

New additions - Men’s

The men’s team had big shoes to fill after their semi-final playoff exit last season against U of T. In the 2024 season, the Bold were ranked as high as third in the U Sports soccer standings, making them the highest ranked TMU varsity team last year.

Prostran alluded to the success of the program during the regular season, saying that “it’s all about the playoffs. We’ve run through the league in years past…and then we’ve faced adversity in the playoffs and it’s a new experience for us.”

In addition, star forward Jevontae Layne was selected first overall to Valour FC of the Canadian Premier League (CPL), leaving an important open slot in the roster. 

Layne joined the Winnipeg-based team in December 2024, becoming the first TMU player to be selected first in the draft. 

Santos remains as one of the older players on what is now a very young roster which gained a plethora of new recruits over the offseason. 

Prostran mentioned that “the players that excel the most are the ones that pick up our system and are really organized off the field.”

With many leaders now off the team, the Bold look to their bond with the Toronto FC Academy and North Toronto Nitros to fill open spots. Taking up Layne’s reins with the Bold is his brother, freshman forward Cyrus Rollocks, who along with freshman defender Hazim Kadib are new additions from Toronto’s Major League Soccer (MLS) affiliations.

TMU also spent time recruiting nationwide as well as in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the U.S. These new recruits include forward Maxim Yeliyashevskyy, midfielders Jamie Benayon-Abraham and Gray Yates, and defenders Noah Bickford and Ricardo Gonzalez.

Playing for the Bold brings many things to these young freshmen, one of them being the pressure and expectations that come with the “honour to represent the badge,” as Bickford said. 

Giving insight into the ‘pressure to perform,’ Bickford said that “it’s a team-first mentality but at the same time you’ve got guys on the bench waiting to take your place and step up.”

Rounding off the new talent for the blue and gold are midfielder Brandon Verburg and defender Luc Ihama. Verburg is coming off an Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations championship with Holy Trinity Catholic High School. Big expectations come with Ilama’s recruitment, him being a League1 Ontario champion and Centennial College’s 2024-25 Men’s Soccer MVP.

New additions - Women’s

On the other hand, the women’s soccer team kept a tight recruiting class this year, having only added four players to the roster. The Bold decided to recruit one player in each main position—forward, midfielder, defender, goalkeeper. The squad hopes to have a better performance this year after an early exit against U of T in the first round of the 2024 OUA playoffs. 

Fourth-year forward Taliyah Walker had some insight into the team atmosphere, stating “I think we got a pretty young team this year, which a lot of teams could see as a disadvantage, but I think it’s an advantage for us. She added that the team is “willing to work hard and put in their time and minutes.”

“I’m really impressed with our mindset and togetherness,” said Yacou. “I’ve been really impressed how they’ve balanced their school and football life.”

Forward Taylor Fazzari is one of the new additions to the team. She hopes that her attacking prowess can help spark some motivation for the Bold this year. Fazzari’s speed and one-on-one playstyle offers a potential wide option for the Bold’s midfielders who include the Toronto Metropolitan Students’ Union 2024-25 Female Rookie of the Year, second-year Natalie Moynihan.

Joining Moynihan in the midfield is Jessica Ulisse, who has spent time with impressive teams across the province, even spending time in England refining her skills with distinguished scouts and trainers.

Midfielder Olivia Narciso and goalkeeper Kyra Pettibone complete the Bold’s draft class for the year. The midfielder joins TMU as a Toronto-native and Pettibone hails from North Carolina where she drove headlines with her high school team, claiming titles such as varsity captain, all-conference and all-region honours. 

Yacou plans to establish a roster that can be described as tight-knit, both in terms of roster size and relationship.

Yacou has faith in his new-look squad. “[We] believe that with hard work, you can get the results, so we can try to really focus on being as competitive as possible.”