KINGSTON, Ont. — The Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) Bold women's hockey team fell 3-2 via shootout to the Queen's Gaels in their season opener on Friday afternoon.
The Bold entered the game looking to start their season off with a bang, keeping up the pressure on offence and slowing the Gaels down on defence. Third-year goaltender
Shannon Harris made several spectacular saves for TMU early on: a statement that would continue to hold true throughout the game, against both shots from distance and up close.
TMU's two-way play eventually led to a scoring opportunity, and the Bold capitalized. A shot from the point from defender
Dayle Chinnick came flying towards the net, and forward
Britni Yammine used her quick instincts to tip it in and notch the team's first score of the regular season.
Yammine has been a familiar face to Bold fans throughout her time on the squad, having played at least 15 games in each of the past three years. It's only fitting that the veteran forward was the one to break the ice and start the year off with a goal.
TMU ended the first period up 1-0, and they came into the second period hungry for another. They attacked their opponents with more assertion than before, and within just two minutes of the frame, found themselves controlling a two-on-zero breakaway.
First-year forward
Riley Del Monte held the puck on the break, and with a nifty move faked out the Gaels' goalkeeper for a clean look into the top right corner.
The goal, which boosted the Bold's lead to 2-0, was assisted by both
Megan Bergmanis and
Ahalya Julien-Medeiros.
Unfortunately for the Bold, their celebration of the 2-0 lead was cut short quickly. The Gaels' Megan Hirschfeld collected a rebound and managed to get the puck past Harris for the first time in the matchup, setting the score at 2-1 Bold.
That goal gave the Gaels some momentum, and Rebecca Thompson scored just a few minutes later to tie the game up at 2-2.
The second goal would last Queen's until the end of the period, as the game entered the third with the score still tied.
In what was a hectic third period, both goaltenders put up fantastic performances. The frame was full of back-and-forth breakaways, with each team having multiple chances to push for the net. All of the chances were to no avail, though, as both Harris and Gaels' goaltender Emma Tennant used their quick instincts to make the right read in every single play. Even a TMU powerplay with 12 minutes to go didn't result in a goal.
As the game clock ticked closer to zero, the Kingston crowd held their breath in anticipation of a score, but none came. The teams headed into overtime, and after seven more minutes of nail-biting play, a shootout.
Harris and Tennant remained calm even under the immense pressure of the moment, and neither team found the back of the net after three shooters from each team.
The ice was finally broken by TMU, as second-year defender
Kalysta Song broke down Tennant with some fancy stickhandling and nailed a top-shelf shot to give the Bold the advantage.
Queen's bounced right back with a score of their own, though, and the battle continued on.
Three rounds of shooters later, Song stepped onto the ice again. After faking left, she managed to swerve to her backhand at the last possible second to find the net yet again.
Song had only logged one OUA point in her career so far, so her spectacular shootout performance made it evident that she was made for the moment. Only few can come up so big in clutch situations like a shootout, and Song did it twice.
Unfortunately for the Bold, the Gaels would yet again match Song's goal and the shootout dragged on. After a few more shooters, Mikayla Cranney stepped up for Queen's and finally sealed the game, barely edging it by the left shinpad of Harris.
Although they took the loss, there were tons of positives for TMU to take from the matchup. They proved that they could score in bunches during the first two periods, and that they could hold things down on defence throughout the third period and overtime.
Next up on the Bold's schedule is another away game, this time against the Laurier Golden Hawks. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m., and fans can watch live on OUA.TV.
