TORONTO – The Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) Bold women's soccer team fell 2-0 to the Nipissing Lakers on Sunday to wrap up their 2024 regular season. 

The Bold dominated the first 15 minutes of action on Sunday, moving the ball up the field with ease but failing to locate the level of potency in the final third that helped carry them to a one-sided win the day before. 

Nipissing's Hannah Neville broke the game's scoreless deadlock in the 25th minute with a well-placed curling shot from outside TMU's penalty box to take the early lead. Up to that point, the Bold had not trailed their opponent in over 200 minutes of action.  

TMU's Kennedy Pryce finished the first half a bounce away from netting her first of the season and leveling the score but her attempt was steered aside by the right toe of the Lakers' goalkeeper in the 27th minute. 

Pryce's opportunity was the closest the Bold got to bringing the contest back to level terms, with offsides and fouls swallowing the pace of play for both sides all throughout the second half.

The Lakers found a way to double their lead in the 86th minute to put the nail in the coffin of TMU's comeback bid, with Cassidy Brooks slamming a header into the back of the Bold's goal. 

The defeat caps off a memorable regular season for the Bold that saw the program transition from three wins in 2023, to finishing a victory shy of breaking the program's all-time record for wins in a single campaign.

The Bold will shift their focus to the postseason, set to commence next Saturday. The group was able to secure home-field advantage for their playoff opener with the University of Toronto (UofT) Varsity Blues following their victory over the Laurentian Voyageurs earlier in the weekend. 

"I don't think the first time we played UofT was our best game," said Emily Porteous following the game. The Bold picked up their first-ever win at Varsity Stadium earlier in the season, doing so in a thrilling 2-1 victory. 

"It's exciting to show them how much better we have gotten."

The time of kickoff on TMU's first game of the postseason is still to be determined, but can be streamed live on OUA.tv.