by Francesco Cautillo

The Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) Bold men’s soccer team extended their undefeated streak to three games following a dominant 4-0 win over the Nipissing University Lakers on Saturday at Downsview Park.

“We did a good job at sticking to the game plan,” said TMU head coach Filip Prostran, adding that his side “did a good job moving the ball to players that can do dangerous things in the final third.”

The Bold look to collect themselves after back-to-back games last weekend, where they claimed victory over city rivals University of Toronto and a tie against Oshawa’s Ontario Tech University.

Only ten minutes into the match, a high cross found a commotion in the Nipissing back post. After an awkward TMU shot hit the crossbar and flicked up, third-year defender Luc Ihama sprung towards the open net, jumping towards the ball and striking the volley home for a 1-0 lead.

Events quickly worsened for the visiting Lakers, as fourth-year goalkeeper Dante Emmanuel sprung out of his net, challenging and missing the ball, resulting in him taking down the attacker. Since Emmanuel was the last man back and illegally stopped a goal-scoring opportunity, the referee decided on a red card and the immediate send off to the Nipissing goalkeeper.

The Lakers subbed out one of their outfield players in order to bring in fourth-year goalkeeper Joshua Biswanger to replace Emmanuel. Still down by a man, they would have a hard job defending the imminent raise in attack from the TMU forwards.

One of those forwards would be first-year Exosse Kadiebue, who cradled the ball in the box before turning past the defender and blasting it past an untested Biswanger.

Smelling blood in the water, the Bold continued their hunt for a third goal by taking advantage of passing plays and the assurance that the Lakers offense barely proved worrisome.

As the teams headed to the locker rooms for the half-time talks, the scoreboard showed a convincing 2-0 in favour of the home side, as the Bold faithful eagerly awaited another 45 minutes of TMU’s attacking trials.

Noticing the lack in opposing energy, the blue-and-gold persisted to push for a third. After creating a counter and an outnumbered attack, an early cross was placed perfectly to first-year midfielder Taha Ilyas, who made it a three-goal lead with a hardly struck half-volley.

As play pressed on, the Bold’s confidence grew with the scoreline, as their offense began striking near overly-ambitious shots and passes.

Prostran commented on how this impacts his side’s confidence, stating that it comes from “being in tough games, tough situations, [and] understanding how to deal with the ups and downs of life and sports.”

Third-year defender Noah Pickering dug the final nail to Nipissing’s coffin, burying a volley past Biswanger in the final ten minutes of play. This marked the fourth TMU goal of the game, each coming from different players, with two of the scorers coming off the bench.

“We definitely do film on the other teams, but at the end of the day it’s all about us and how we’re focusing on ourselves and how we play,” said Pickering.

With no additional time needed from the officials, the Bold swiftly take a 4-0 victory over the Lakers, winning their home-opener and improving their record to 2-1-0.

UP NEXT: TMU heads Richardson Stadium in Queen’s University to take on the Gaels. Kick-off is set for 3 p.m. on Sept. 13th.