WATERLOO, Ont. – Slava Melikov scored two goals, including the game winner in the final minute, to power the Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) Bold men's hockey team to a 5-4 victory over the Waterloo Warriors on Saturday afternoon. Melikov was not the only TMU player to have a multi-point night as Aleks Dimovski notched a goal and an assist and William Portokalis recorded two assists.

A back-and-forth affair, the game featured a recurring pattern of the Warriors taking the lead followed by the Bold responding with the equalizer. 

Waterloo scored the opening goal just 52 seconds into the game before Melikov tied the contest at 6:45 in the first period, off an assist by Spencer Shugrue. That was all the scoring in the opening 20 minutes as the two teams took a 1-1 tie into the break.

In the second period, once again it was the Warriors who grabbed the lead, besting Bold netminder Kai Edmonds at 11:28 in the period, on the powerplay. The Bold quickly found an answer as they scored a minute later with Connor Bowie slotting it home and Ian Martin and Portokalis registering the assists. However, to continue the theme of the game, the Warriors retook the lead in the final minute of the period and headed into the second intermission with a 3-2 lead.

The Bold found success on the power play in the third period, tying the game when Joseph Ianniello and Portokalis connected to set up Connor Bowie. Tied at 3-3, the Bold notched another power play goal and secured their first lead of the game when Daniil Grigorev took a pass from Kevin Gursoy and rifled the puck past the Warrior goalie, Dan Murphy. Not going down without a fight, Waterloo equalized at 18:44 but then Melikov put the game to bed with only 23 seconds left in the contest. Dimovski and Liam Ross picked up the assists.

With the win, the Bold improve to 4-6 and the Warriors fall to 4-5. Next up for the Bold is a meeting with the Brock Badgers in Thorold, Ont. on Friday, Nov. 8. Puck drop is scheduled for 6 p.m. and can be viewed on OUA.tv.