TORONTO - The Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) men's hockey team completed a perfect start to the opening weekend of 2025, dispatching the Royal Military College (RMC) Paladins (1-18) 5-3 on Saturday afternoon. The Bold (11-9) find themselves in fourth place atop a crowded OUA West. The Western Mustangs (10-7), who sit in first in the West division, have two games in hand on the Bold.

''I thought the effort was good tonight," said interim head coach Mike Fine. "You know, obviously putting 53 shots at the net is a positive and that's the way we wanna play. But I think when they started getting making it more of a dog fight, we engaged a little bit too much."

The Bold were led offensively by Ian Martin, Kevin Gursoy, and Jaden Condotta. Will Portokalis opened the scoring just over three minutes into the contest, deflecting a Condotta point shot for his fifth goal of the season.

Condotta, whose ice-time and role have grown exponentially this season, credits a strong off-season and the coaches' confidence for his impressive offensive turnaround. The third-year defender, has four goals and ten assists in 19 games, following this afternoon's three point effort.

"I got bigger, faster, stronger" said Condotta. "I knew what I had to do, and just had to put it into play out here."

Despite a dominant opening, the Paladins equalized the score in the dying moments of the first, deflecting a shot past Ryan Dugas, making his second start in as many days. Dugas, who has five starts with the Bold in 2024-25, has recorded a sparkling .913 save percentage this season.

"Dugie has been great, since day one," said Fine. "We've got all the faith in the world in him and he's just a good teammate."

TMU restored their lead in the second with a pair of goals during a five-on-three. The first marker came via a Kevin Gursoy one-timer, which beat the RMC keeper for his sixth of the season. Moments later Jordan D'Intino added another, his fourth, following a strong individual effort. It gave the Bold a much needed insurance marker as RMC would get one back before the final frame.

"(The powerplay) came up clutch again today," added Fine. "I liked our execution, I like that we were able to get the big goals at the right times."

The Paladins would bring the score level at three with just over eleven minutes to play in the third.

Despite surrendering the equalizer, the Bold quickly responded. It came from an Ian Martin wrist shot which handcuffed the RMC netminder before floating into the net. Martin's seventh goal of the season would prove to be the winner, as the Bold held on for a 5-3 victory following a Martin empty net tally.

"We just gotta keep the momentum going and continue to improve," said Fine. "I like the way we're going, so I think we're in a good spot."

The Bold return to action next Thursday with a road contest against the Ontario Tech Ridgebacks (11-7) from Oshawa. Catch select road games streaming on OUA.tv.