TORONTO – The Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) Bold women's hockey team put up a valiant fight against the No. 8-ranked Toronto Varsity Blues, keeping it tight against their closest geographical rival until the third period in a 6-2 defeat on Thursday evening.

The Bold entered the night as winners of two of their previous three games and hoped for a strong start. However, their aspirations were quickly shut down when Toronto opened the scoring at just 2:18 into the contest. The early Toronto goal turned out to be the only one of the first period as the Varsity Blues took a 1-0 lead into the opening break.

In the second period, the floodgates opened with six total goals in the frame–four for the home side and two for the visiting Bold. The two for the Bold were especially impressive. The first came from a terrific individual effort up the side boards by Payton Kerr who made her way past two defenders before finding Mia Morano on a two-on-one opportunity. The second was a well-placed shot from Cailey Davis, who found herself open in the slot after a couple passes from Kayla Kondo and Emma MacGregor. Despite the two goals, the Bold struggled to prevent the Varsity Blues from finding success on the other end as Toronto held a 4-2 advantage after 40 minutes.

In the third period, with the Bold forced to play more aggressively to try to cut into the deficit, they were susceptible to rushes going the other way and allowed two more goals.

The Bold will return to action on Saturday, Feb. 1 at the Mattamy Athletic Centre for a showdown against the Nipissing Lakers. Puck drop is scheduled for 1:15 p.m. TMU students can attend the game for free with their OneCard.