By Matteo Giuliano

The Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) men’s hockey team extended their winning streak to five games, tying their longest run of the year, after beating the University of Guelph Gryphons 5-1 at the Mattamy Athletic Centre (MAC) on Friday night. 

Heading into the game, the Bold were in third place in the Western Conference, just a point behind Lakehead University and Guelph for second in the conference. Tonight’s win after a chippy, hard-fought battle allowed TMU to leapfrog Guelph in the standings in the penultimate game of the semester.

The first period was a fast-paced, rough 20 minutes, and the Bold were in control for its entirety. Early in the period, first-year forward Chase Lefebvre jumped on Guelph Gryphons goaltender first-year Olivier Ciarlo’s mishandling of the puck behind the net and tucked it into the empty cage. 

TMU played a tight defensive game, giving the Gryphons little after taking the lead, which they doubled with just over eight minutes left in the first. Third-year forward Daniil Grigorev scored his second of the year off a great pass from first-year forward Gavin Grundner. Though Guelph had a couple of opportunities later in the period, but all in all, it was a it was a better-played 20 minutes for the Bold. 

Starting strong was huge for TMU, and has been something the team has struggled with this year. “We usually have tough starts at home, but the first 20 [minutes] set the pace of the game,” said first-year TMU forward Marko Djordjevic.

The second period was much more open, with both teams trading chances, but TMU remained in the driver’s seat. Lefebvre earned his second point of the game by setting up second-year forward Spencer Shugrue with a great pass, allowing Shugrue to fire the puck over Ciarlo’s blocker shoulder to extend the lead to 3-0. 

The Bold continued to control the play throughout the period, with their fourth goal coming shortly after they had a goal disallowed for a high stick. With less than two minutes left in the period, the Bold’s leading point-scorer, fourth-year forward Will Portokalis, fed Djordjevic with a pass right in front of the net. The forward made no mistake, burying his eighth goal of the year. 

With just six seconds left in the frame, TMU faced their first real defensive breakdown of the game. Guelph second-year forward Nolan Dann came in on a breakaway and fired it off of Edmonds’ pad and into the back of the net to cut the lead to 4-1. 

Although Dann got one back for the Gryphons, they couldn’t muster much in the third. TMU second-year defenseman Joseph Ianniello added another one late in the period to make the score 5-1, and TMU held onto that lead from there. 

Guelph was the second highest scoring team in the Ontario University Athletics heading into the game and an impressive, tight-checking game shut the Gryphons down. 

“It was our best 60 minutes of the year, certainly defensively,” head coach Johnny Duco explained. 

It has been a year of ups and downs, but it seems like the return of fourth-year forward and captain Connor Bowie gave the team a lift. 

“He brings a lot of energy every game…all the boys look up to him,” said Djordjevic. 

UP NEXT: The Bold have a quick turnaround with a game on Saturday night at the MAC against the University of Waterloo Warriors. Puck-drop is set for 2:15 p.m. With a win, they’ll head into the winter break in first place in the Western Conference.