TORONTO - Despite a commanding performance, the Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) Bold women's hockey team dropped a close 2-1 game to the Windsor Lancers on Saturday night at the Mattamy Athletic Centre.
The Bold were coming off a fresh loss last night against the Toronto Varsity Blues. Meanwhile, the Lancers were searching for their first victory of the season as they were also defeated yesterday at the hands of the Nipissing Lakers.
In the opening period, the Bold had generated more scoring opportunities than the Lancers as they were playing with a faster pace compared to their crosstown rivalry game yesterday.
"Definitely really pleased with the rebound they showed," said Haley. "There wasn't a lot that we executed well yesterday and I felt the opposite today."
Despite the lopsided shot score of 15-4 in favour of the Bold, the game remained scoreless heading into the intermission.
The improved Bold play continued early into the middle frame and they were eventually able to capitalize on their third power play opportunity of the evening. TMU newcomer Dani Fox blasted a shot past Kristen Swiatochik after a pass from Megan Breen to give the blue and gold a 1-0 lead.
"Finally got the monkey off my back," said Fox.
Nonetheless, the Lancers found the equalizer not long after. Defender Taylor Leitch put a shot on the net that squeaked past Bold netminder Jayden Lawson to tie the game.
The latter stages of the period featured back-and-forth play from both teams, yet, the game was tied going into the third.
The Bold's dominance in the third continued, but they couldn't put anything past Swiatochuk.
"Sometimes you just run into a hockey goalie," said Haley. "Her performance was awesome."
With less than seven minutes left, Lancers forward Maggie Peterson was sprung on a breakaway after a defensive faceoff win. The Edmonton native was then taken down in front of Lawson and was awarded a penalty shot. On the one-on-one opportunity, she made a quick move in tight to give Windsor the lead.
"Just a little bit of missed assignments," added Haley. "We lost the faceoff, which is fine, but we lost track of their centre."
Despite the Bold effort late in the game, the score held and the Lancers escaped the 45-22 shot differential in favour of TMU with three points.
"We almost had it out there and could've gone out to overtime," said Fox. "It wasn't in the cards."
TMU now looks ahead to a one-game road trip in Waterloo as they take on the Waterloo Warriors next Thursday. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
"If today's effort happens again, we'll be in a good position to win a lot of hockey games," said Haley.
