TORONTO – Six goal scorers and a strong night on special teams helped the Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) Bold men's hockey team secure a 6-2 win over the Western Mustangs and leapfrog their midweek opponent to take the top spot in the OUA West standings.
The Bold went three-for-eight on the man-advantage and held the Mustangs scoreless on four attempts to land their fifth victory in their last six games on Wednesday.
Third-year defender Jaden Condotta has fueled TMU's hot streak in recent weeks with his impressive play on the offensive side of the puck and entered midweek action fresh off a trio of helpers in his side's 5-2 win against the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières (UQTR) Patriotes last weekend.
Another three points from Condotta, including a goal 4:32 into Wednesday's middle frame, helped spark a three-goal offensive onslaught from the home side en route to their eighth win of the season.
"He's come out this year and been absolutely fantastic for us," praised Head Coach of the Bold John Duco of his team's leading contributor on the backend.
"He's a guy who only played five games last year…not playing as much as he would have liked to, but he took it the right way, used it as motivation," he added.
Chris Playfair and Western's Anthony Allepot busted open the scoreless deadlock in the late stages of Wednesday's first period, with the Bold captain lighting the lamp on the man-advantage after his side was held in check by the visitors on a double-minor earlier in the frame.
Jackson Doherty added to Condotta's early tally in the second period to begin breaking the game open for the Bold. Western's Josh Leblanc temporarily cut into the visitors' deficit midway through the frame, but was denied the chance to build on his team's upswing in momentum following Gursoy's powerplay marker to give the Bold a 4-2 lead.
Ian Martin and Daniil Grigorev pushed the game well out of Western's reach in the third, the former beating the visitors from his own end of the ice on a failed attempt at pulling their netminder to try and claw their way back to level.
The Bold celebrated the win with just 15 of their players after a brawl along TMU's bench depleted their team in the final two minutes of regulation. The Bold were awarded a two-man advantage and scored on the ensuing play to put the Mustangs away in spite of their numbers.
"We stick together, we'll do anything. We're a family so just got to keep it going," said Condotta following the game.
The blue and gold head into the final two weekends of the fall semester in search of entering the holiday break at the summit of the OUA West's standings, a feat that seemed bleak following a 1-5 start to the season.
"One thing we've really focused on here with the tough start is controlling what we can control," said Duco. "Focusing on winning your next shift, focusing on winning the period, focusing on trying to win the hockey game by building good habits," he added.
"This is a huge win for us. It should continue to give our group the confidence that if we play the way we are capable of, we can beat anyone."
The group will have the chance to add a third-consecutive win to their side of the ledger when they host the Queen's Gaels this upcoming Saturday to close out their homestand.
Puckdrop from the Mattamy Athletic Centre (MAC) is set for 6:15 p.m.
