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THE OFFICIAL HOME OF TMU Bold
THE OFFICIAL HOME OF THE TMU Bold HOME OF THE TMU Bold
Joseph Ianniello celebrates after scoring against Lakehead in Game 2 of the OUA West Semis
Emily Simonetta
0
Lakehead LAKE
3
Winner TMU TMU
Lakehead LAKE
0
Final
3
TMU TMU
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 F
Lakehead LAKE 0 0 0 0
TMU TMU 1 1 1 3

Game Recap: Hockey (M) | | Jay Greyvenstein

Bold Advance to OUA West Final for Second Straight Season

TORONTO - The Bold are one step closer.

With their 3-0 win on Saturday night, the Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) Bold men's hockey team are one step closer to a Queen's Cup berth, as they eliminated the Lakehead University Thunderwolves in the second round of the OUA playoffs. 

After escaping a raucous Thunder Bay with an emotionally charged win on Wednesday night, the Bold had put themselves in prime position to return to the OUA West final. Spencer Shugrue's overtime winner came in front of a chorus of boos, and was followed by a lengthy protest from the Thunderwolves' bench after the result went final. The controversial finish set-up the elimination scenario on Saturday for the Bold.

"It was a tough task (to win on Wednesday)," said head coach Johnny Duco. "They're extremely well-coached and never out of a game."

Despite a strong first period where the Bold held the majority of chances, and outshot the Thunderwolves 9-4, the score remained 0-0 through the opening 19 minutes. Ian Martin would break the deadlock in the final minute of the first frame, with a power play marker. The go-ahead goal came from a Joseph Ianniello shot which ricocheted off the end glass before landing on Martin's stick in the slot. 

Carrying a 1-0 lead into the second, the Bold came out firing looking to extend it. Similar to the first, the majority of shots and chances were in the Lakehead end, but the Bold struggled to get through a stout Thunderwolves defense. The tight checking led to some nervous moments for Bold fans as Lakehead created sustained pressure in the later stages of the period, but Kai Edmonds and the Bold defenders were up to the task.

As the teams seemed destined to carry the 1-0 scoreline into the final frame, Liam Ross drifted a shot from the point with 0.7 seconds left. The seeing-eye-shot floated for what seemed like an eternity before lodging itself in the upper right corner of the Lakehead net. The goal was Liam Ross' first career OUA tally, and it couldn't have come at a better time for the Bold.

"I shot the puck, there was a piece of open net, and it went in." Liam Ross said with a shrug. "Not much to it."

With the 2-0 advantage entering the final frame, the Bold were in the same position as game one. In the series' opener, TMU quickly surrendered the equalizer, forcing Shugrue's overtime heroics. Tonight, the Blue & Gold were determined not to repeat Wednesday night's dramatics.

"We went in and we asked the group, what did we learn from last game being being up to nothing going into the third?" said Duco. "They're smart guys and they're pretty dialed in."

Joseph Ianniello added a third TMU tally, their second on the powerplay, just over four minutes into the final frame. Ianniello's insurance marker came off an absolute rocket of a shot, with the feed from Jordan D'Intino setting up the first-year defender to unleash the lethal shot.

The victory sets up an exciting OUA West final against crosstown rivals, the University of Toronto (17-11). The Varsity Blues won two of three contests between the sides during the regular season, including the most recent matchup on February 6th. The Bold will have home ice advantage throughout the series after finishing as the division's top seed.

"Battle of Toronto, what more could you ask for?" Duco added, "We're looking forward to the task and to the opportunity, but we know it's not gonna be easy and we're gonna have to play our best."
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