By Zoe Aloumanis

The Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) Bold men’s hockey team snapped their three-game losing streak with a 5-2 win against the Lakehead University Thunderwolves at the Mattamy Athletic Centre (MAC) on Thursday night.

After a loss to the Waterloo Warriors on Oct. 24, the Bold returned to home ice for the first time in the regular season, looking to regain momentum after a winless stretch of away games.

“It’s always tough when you play on the road to start the season,” said TMU head coach Johnny Duco. “Other teams are excited to establish their home-ice identity, and for us I thought we did a lot of really good things in some of those games, and ultimately you come up short, but really proud of the way that we played tonight at home.”

Second-year forward Gavin Grundner opened the scoring less than two minutes into the first period, with assists from third-year forward Slava Melikov and fourth-year forward Daniil Grigorev. 

Lakehead had a few early scoring chances, but first-year goaltender Mason Beaupit produced crucial saves to keep the Thunderwolves off the scoreboard. 

Despite Lakehead’s offensive pressure, a turnover led to another TMU goal in the sixth minute. Second-year forward Tanner Scott found the back of the net, beating Lakehead fifth-year goaltender Carson Cherepak, extending TMU’s lead to 2-0. Scott, who had sustained a string of injuries at the start of the season, reflected on what it was like to return to the ice.

“It felt awesome,” said Scott. “I think we played a full 60 [minutes], and I think our effort to compete was much better today.”

The Bold continued their aggression, but a high-sticking penalty on second-year forward Ryan Cooper in the ninth minute gave Lakehead a chance to regain momentum. Moments later, first-year Bold forward Sam Noad received a slashing penalty, gifting Lakehead a two-man advantage.

Lakehead capitalized on the 5-on-3 power play, as second-year Thunderwolf forward Aidan Litke punished the Bold off of a sitting rebound, edging a goal off the back skate of first-year goalie Mason Beaupit halfway through the first frame.

As the frame’s final moments wound down, both sides kept trading opportunities, but neither could capitalize. With less than a minute left, an altercation between Litke and fifth-year Bold defender Klim Georgiev saw Georgiev exit the game clutching his face after what appeared to Duco to be as if he had been “kicked.” 

“We do have the ability to send it in for further review,” said Duco. “We’ll kind of dive into that stuff tonight here and see if that’s something we want to move forward with. But fortunately he was a little banged up there, but he’s going to be okay.”

Litke received a two-minute penalty for roughing and a two-minute penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct. Both teams returned to the locker room with TMU outshooting Lakehead 18-7. 

Despite the last period’s late scuffle, the Bold were eager to put it in the rearview mirror and find their insurance goal.

“There’s going to be moments in the game where things happen,” said Duco. “There’s so much parity in the league, and if you let some of those moments within a game throw you off, then you’re liable to be leaving disappointed at the end of the night.”

TMU began the second period with the last frame already in the rearview mirror. With just two minutes on the clock, second-year forward Lachlan Wells notched the first goal of his TMU career, helping the Bold to a 3-1 cushion. 

“It felt great. I mean, it took over a year, so it’s nice to finally get it done,” Wells said.

Grundner also continued his impressive performance, scoring his second goal of the night from a penalty shot in the 13th minute, giving TMU a three-goal advantage and marking his seventh point in just five games. 

When asked about his early-season production, Grundner credited his teammates, saying, “I’m playing with good players […] I’m playing with good linemates, they make it easy, and we’ve been gelling.”

Both teams continued to play physically throughout the period. Despite a late interference penalty on Melikov, TMU maintained their momentum with another strong penalty kill, carrying their 4-1 lead into the intermission while continuing to overwhelm Lakehead offensively, posting 31 shots to the Thunderwolves’ 14.

The Bold began the third period on the power play. TMU continued to build on their momentum, with second-year forward Carter MacAdams finding the back of the net in the sixth minute on an assist from second-year forward Marko Djordjevic, bolstering the Bold’s advantage to 5-1.

Though a late goal by third-year Lakehead forward Malte Hasselgren tried to breathe life back into his side, the Bold got the better of the Thunderwolves, 5-2, outshooting them 42-30 as the game reached its conclusion.

Moving forward, Duco emphasized the importance of leveraging contributions from the entire lineup.

“When we have everybody going, we’re going to be a really tough team to play against.”

UP NEXT: The Bold rematch the Thunderwolves tomorrow night at the MAC. Puck-drop is set for 6:15 p.m.