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THE OFFICIAL HOME OF TMU Bold
THE OFFICIAL HOME OF THE TMU Bold HOME OF THE TMU Bold
Grigorev celebrates after scoring 3-1 goal vs Brock
Photo by Josh Kim
2
Brock BRO
3
Winner TMU TMU
Brock BRO
2
Final
3
TMU TMU
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 F
Brock BRO 0 1 1 2
TMU TMU 0 1 2 3

Game Recap: Hockey (M) | | Mario Russo

Late life fuels Bold past Badgers in Artem Duda's OUA debut

The Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) Bold men's hockey squad kicked off the new year on a high with a 3-2 win against the Brock Badgers on Thursday. 

Goals courtesy of Connor Bowie and Daniil Grigorev helped push the Bold over the line in their opening contest of 2024. Kyle Bollers added his team-leading 13th goal of the season in the winning effort, opening the scoring for the Bold late in the second period during a Badgers man-advantage. 

"It was a nice piece of confidence to take forward," said head coach of the Bold, Johnny Duco, who was pleased with the way his key players stepped up late in the game to earn the win.

Heading into the Bold's first match of the calendar year, fourth-year forward Zach Roberts, as well as first-year defender Artem Duda, got set to suit up in blue and gold for the first time this season. 

Unlike Roberts, who joined the Bold this past offseason after spending three seasons with the Guelph Gryphons, Duda was touching OUA ice for the first time in his hockey career on Thursday. 

The 19-year old entered the fold in late December and is primed to make a crucial impact on TMU's blueline throughout the winter semester, as well as during the U Cup in March. 

Duda was selected in the second round of the NHL entry draft by the Arizona Coyotes in 2022 and finished his debut by leaving an industrious impression on his head coach. 

"I'm really impressed with the way [Duda] played. You can see he has all the tools to really be an elite player in this league," mentioned Duco postgame.

"He's going to be a difference-maker for us," he added.

Thursday's star power at the MAC nestled between the opposing nets as well, with both TMU's Kai Edmonds and Brock's Connor Ungar playing in their first games since being named to the U SPORTS All-Star team in December. 

The two netminders combined for 21 saves and a shutout through Thursday's opening frame, with Edmonds garnering the biggest gasp from the home crowd following his diving stop on Brock's Christophe Cote 50 seconds through a Bold man-advantage. 

Both sides managed to extinguish the hot play of the two netminders late in the second, however, with TMU's Kyle Bollers and Brock's Riley Gannon each capitalizing on a pair of goaltending errors to open up the scoring. 

The two teams flooded the penalty box in the second period, with five of the eight penalties in the frame being conceived 9:30 into the middle stanza. Bowie was among the penalized party for the Bold late in the second, marching to the box twice in less than five minutes.

"The physicality is part of the game and I feel it brings the best out of us," mentioned Duco.

Bowie would go on to make an impact on the ice in the early goings of the third, however, finding the go-ahead marker 8:19 into the period and securing his eighth tally of the campaign. 

Grigorev would tack on the eventual game-winner just 1:54 after Bowie gave the Bold their second lead of the night, pouncing on a loose rebound in front of Ungar for the seventh goal of his rookie campaign. 

Brock's Jared Marino cut into TMU's lead with 2:46 remaining in the third period but would watch his efforts go unrewarded in the Bold's 12th victory of the season.

The Bold head into Friday's matchup with the Concordia Stingers just four points off the pace in the OUA West. Puck drop is set for 7:15 p.m.

 
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