The Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) Bold women's hockey team witnessed their chance at postseason hockey come to a heartbreaking halt on Thursday, surrendering a trio of unanswered goals to the University of Toronto (UofT) Varsity Blues in an overtime defeat.
TMU used a second-period surge to mount a 2-0 lead over their crosstown rival before falling behind the eight ball during the late stages of the second and third frame.
Katy McKenna evened up the score in the final ten seconds of regulation to force overtime with the Bold before Ashley Delahey slid home her game-winner 5:20 into the extra frame to secure victory for the Varsity Blues.
Whether the Bold came out of Thursday's contest on the right side of their season-finale wouldn't have made any difference to the group's chances at claiming the final playoff spot in the OUA East, with the York Lions securing their postseason position at 28 points with a 3-1 win over the Ontario Tech Ridgebacks on Thursday.
The result brings a solemn end to TMU's bid for a consecutive appearance in the OUA postseason following a late playoff push that featured a four-game winning streak and a complete turnaround of the Bold's season.
Winning just two games throughout the initial half of the regular season, Lisa Haley's side eclipsed that total over the last two weeks during the Bold's longest win streak of the year.
Second-year netminder Alexia Stratos provided the Bold with a serious chance at playing postseason hockey during her four starts to close out the year, picking up a 3-0-1 record and allowing just four goals during that span.
Outside of Stratos' late-season takeover of TMU's crease, the Bold pieced together a large chunk of their game since returning from winter break in January.
Cailey Davis was among the many second-half successes throughout the Bold roster, exploding for ten points to shatter her previous career-high of five and providing the Bold with secondary scoring during the final stretch of the campaign.
Neely Van Volsen made an impactful first impression in her initial season with the Bold, leading all of TMU's rookies with 10 points and wrapping up her debut season sitting fourth in the OUA in scoring.
Recording a goal and an assist on Thursday, Megan Breen continued to take promising strides as the team's main source of offense on the backend and carries an abundance of confidence into her fourth season with the squad.
Entering the winter break with just four points to her name, Breen erupted for 12 points in her final 13 games of the season to finish her junior year second on the Bold in scoring.
Emily Baxter finished her respective campaign atop TMU's ranks in points and used an assist against the Varsity Blues on Thursday to tie the program's single-season point record with 23.
The Bold also sported a collective plus 0.900 SV% through each of their netminders in 2023-24 and witnessed several dominant stretches from Lauren Griffin, Shannon Harris and Stratos.
The three combined for five shutouts in seven of TMU's wins, yet the achilles heel that cost the Bold has more to do with the teams the group failed to beat rather than the ones they did.
Failing to land a knockout blow on teams other than the Lions, Ridgebacks and Golden Hawks ultimately left the Bold on the outside looking in at the end of their season and starting the offseason earlier than they would have liked.
