TORONTO – The Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) men's hockey team returned the ice to start the regular winter semester season with a bang against the Brock Badgers. 

These two teams have a rivalry history, and the Bold hoped to come out on top in the end. They did with a 4-3 win, the first OUA win for Michael Fine as acting head coach.

"It feels great, I'm excited about it. I'm just happy the team got the win," said Fine. 

First-year forward Jordan D'intino fired the puck into the back of the Badgers net in under a minute. D'intino ended his night with a goal and an assist.

"We got an early three on two and ended up scoring. It's always nice scoring the first shift as it kind of sets the tone for the rest of the game," said D'intino.

The Badgers netted the equalizer a few minutes later, followed by the leading goal halfway through the first. The Bold held off until the end of the first and went into the locker room down by one.

Going into the second period, the Bold did not  back down, focusing mainly on the defensive side of play. 

"Hockey is a game of momentum swings, and they took it early in the second. We finished strong, and I think finishing strong in the second allowed us to come back into the third feeling good," Fine added. 

The Badgers managed to get another goal early in the second, but Tyler Savard was quick to respond, bagging the second goal for the Bold and his fourth of the season. 

In the third period, the Bold had to catch up on the scoreboard, and Will Portokalis did just that, securing the tying goal of the game early in the third. 

The Bold received many power-play opportunities throughout the game, and Kevin Gursoy capitalized off of that and scored the game-winner. 

"We had a pretty tough schedule in the first half, so I think coming out of the gate pretty hot in the second half was definitely on our minds over a long Christmas break, so to beat an in-division rival on the first game back, it's huge to get a four-point game," said Gursoy

With the time winding down, the Bold held off strong and Ryan Dugas, who was in-between the pipes, made a total of 32 saves.

The Bold will be back at home tomorrow at 3:15 p.m. to face the RMC Paladins. Students get in free to all TMU home games with their OneCard.