By Santiago Ortega

The Toronto Metropolitan University Bold Men’s soccer team had their last home game of the season spoiled, falling in a 1-0 defeat to the Laurentian Voyageurs at Downsview Park on Saturday.

Laurentian came into the game ranking in fourth place in the Ontario Universities Athletics (OUA) East division, sitting six points behind TMU in first. 

The first half opened with plenty of opportunities for the two teams, both eager to prove themselves in the upcoming playoff race.

TMU hoped to use their deep roster to take the advantage over Laurentian, hoping that a win today would help give their usual starters rest as well as keep others in top form.

The scoring nearly opened when fourth-year Laurentian midfielder Daniel Alexa took a pass inside the box in the 45th minute, where he shot a low, curving shot, creeping just wide past the right post. 

At half the scoreboard showed double zeros, leaving many questions to be answered in the remaining 45 minutes.

Laurentian almost sparked the scoring again in the 52nd minute, when a far shot from fourth-year defender Jérémie Bourbonnais forced second-year Bold goalkeeper Matthew Owang to attempt a diving save. Following an initial save, Owang stepped up to block another Laurentian shot before the ball was cleared by the Bold defence.

Minutes later, third-year TMU midfielder Taha Ilyass was sent all alone against the opposing keeper, but his shot missed far left, keeping the game deadlocked.

With only a quarter of the match remaining, Laurentian finally broke through. The goal came from a cross into the box from Bourbonnais, which found first-year winger Samuel Ekichi unmarked near the far post. Ekichi headed the ball past Owang to put the Voyageurs up 1-0 and TMU on the ropes. 

Bold head coach Filip Prostran substituted 4 players in the next 4 minutes, hoping to create a spark that could save TMU.

Later on, fourth-year Bold forward Exosse Kadiebue placed a shot into the bottom left corner, seemingly tying the match, but the linesman raised his flag to signal him offside. The tight officiating decision erased Kadiebue’s four game goal streak, maintaining the Voyageurs lead. 

A similar situation recurred in the sixth minute of added time, after a cross into the box toppled  the ball in the back of Laurentian’s net, but yet again the referee reversed it, whistling a foul against TMU in the box and another potential equalizer.

Ultimately, the Bold would fall 1-0, shrinking the Bold’s lead at the top of the OUA East.

UP NEXT: TMU travels to Laurentian for a rematch on Saturday, October 17th. Kickoff at Laurentian Field is scheduled for 2:15 p.m.