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TMU Athletics & Recreation

THE OFFICIAL HOME OF TMU Bold
THE OFFICIAL HOME OF THE TMU Bold HOME OF THE TMU Bold
A TMU player high fives his teammates while skating past the bench after scoring.
Photo by Emily Simonetta
1
Windsor WSR
3
Winner TMU TMU
Windsor WSR
1
Final
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TMU TMU
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 F
Windsor WSR 0 1 0 1
TMU TMU 2 0 1 3

Game Recap: Hockey (M) | | Nashra Syed

Bold open season with 3-1 win over Windsor on home ice

TORONTO - The Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) men's hockey team successfully defended home ice against the Windsor Lancers as they played their season and home opener at the Mattamy Athletic Centre (MAC) on Friday night.

The team finished their exhibition preseason last weekend in New Brunswick, facing the defending national champs, the University of New Brunswick (UNB) Reds.

"We're really happy with the way we defended, the way we dug in there at the end and didn't give [Windsor] a whole lot. I think our preparation of playing UNB last weekend definitely was a different level and I think that helped us today," said Bold head coach, Johnny Duco.

The blue and gold's Aaron Hyman scored an early goal in the fifth minute, earning cheers from the home bench and fans. This is the defenceman's first goal of the season.

As the Lancers advanced on the offence, goal keeper Kai Edmonds kept his eyes on the puck, stopping two shots on goal from the visitors. 

"I think just trying to stay as focused on the puck as possible. Just not letting it leave my eyesight and just really tracking that puck to really see it," said Edmonds on what helps him anticipate a shot.

With the Lancers gaining speed, a quick interception from captain Chris Playfair brought the Bold back into the offensive.

Moments later, the puck flew up in the air which was caught by the Lancers before they charged towards the Bold goal.

Carson Gallagher was close to netting his first goal dressed in blue and gold, but the opportunity was quickly taken away from him.

With a scoop of his stick in the 16th minute, Playfair scored the second goal to double the score on the Lancers. The team skated over to celebrate their captain's goal with him.

"I think tonight it was just putting everything together that we learned from preseason. It was a good team coming in here so we just had to have more energy, we had to work a little bit harder than they did and want a bit more and I think we did that throughout the whole game," said the game's second goal scorer. 

Third-year Joe Rupoli's stellar block put a pin in the Lancers' offensive attack. The team soared throughout the first period, hoping to keep the momentum going into the second, however, the Bold struggled to keep the offensive in a power play as a shot on goal from the Bold was deflected off the Lancers goalkeeper.

"We seem to have pretty good first periods and obviously when you do that, a team's going to come out harder in the second. I think it's just us being ready to answer the bell," said Playfair.

The team also took a few penalties in the second period which worked in favour of the Lancers. Bold's Connor Bowie was ushered to the penalty box in the 18th minute.

"There were also a lot of penalties and I think it had a weird flow to it in the second period. Just trying to stay out of the box and get all four lines going," the captain added.

Fourth time was a charm for Lancers' Jake Durham as his shot flew past Edmonds to make it in goal. The second period ended the Lancers trailing behind the Bold in a 2-1 score.

Starting the last period off strong, the Bold earned some strong offensive plays, but Lancers goalkeeper Nathan Torchia was quick to catch the puck, stopping the Bold's attempt to put a triple on the scoreboard.

Forward Kevinn Gursoy's shot on goal was deflected by Torchia. It was up to third-year Kyle Bollers to complete the score.

The puck slid in for an empty net goal for Bollers in the last minute of the game. As the buzzer went off, the Bold were able to secure their first win of the season, commencing their hopes of playing an undefeated season.

The team hits the road for the next month with the first stop being in Waterloo to face the Warriors on Oct. 7. The puck drops at 7 p.m.

"Traditionally, this group has been terrific on the road, so I don't expect a whole lot to change. Whether we're home or on the road we want to bring a high level of compete and we want to bring a solid effort and execution for 60 minutes - historically this group has been really good on the road," added Duco.
 
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