TORONTO, ON – The first two days of the season couldn’t have gone much better for the TMU Bold, as they built on a season-opening win against York with a 6-1 victory over their downtown rival Toronto Varsity Blues. Meanwhile, the Varsity Blues slipped after a 2-1 overtime win against Laurier.
After finding the net twice on opening night against York , TMU forward Kyle Bollers scored a hat trick and an assist before the midway mark of the third period, dominating the Varsity Blues throughout the night in the 6-1 win.
“I worked my tail off during the offseason and have a goal to get back to the National tournament and then the Queen’s Cup,” Bollers said post-game. “The biggest thing I worked on in the summer is my one-timer. I got to keep being consistent and not fall off the map.”
The one-timer was a standout element of his game on Saturday night, scoring twice on it, something he aims to make a recurring theme this season.
Bold head coach Johnny Duco and the Bold couldn’t have hoped for a better start to their game against Toronto, as tempers boiled over early, putting the Bold on the powerplay, where Elijah Roberts scored to make it 1-0 just 50 seconds into the game.
“It’s something we focused on in the preseason. It was the opposite, we had terrible starts, and we put a lot of effort and talk into ways we can start faster and get ourselves off on the right foot,” Duco said. “I’m really proud of the way the guys executed and came out and put shots on net. Nothing crazy, no magic sauce. It’s simple hockey, doing very simple things and executing.”
The second goal of the night came just minutes after, as Bollers made an astute defensive play by breaking up a cross-ice pass and went up on the rush with Jackson Doherty, who slid the puck ahead to Bollers for his first of the night.
The Bold continued to control the play for much of the first period as Toronto netminder Rayce Ramsay allowed four goals on 11 shots, forcing Varsity Blues head coach Ryan Medel to send in backup netminder Jett Alexander.
Yet the goaltending chance could only do so much, as TMU’s dominance continued with Bollers scoring on the powerplay, his second of the game, to make it 5-0.
Toronto’s Owen Guy, a grad transfer from the Brock Badgers, scored his first for the Varsity Blues to make it 5-1 midway through the second period, but that was all that Toronto would get in the offensive zone.
Bollers completed his hat trick with 14 minutes remaining in the third period when he scored another one-timer from in close on the penalty kill. From that point on, TMU cruised to the 6-1 victory.
“We weren’t ready to play at the start; that was very evident,” Toronto’s Medel said post-game. “We gave up a bad penalty early, we gave up an early goal, there was a lack of compete, and it’s not acceptable.”
However, It’s not as though the Varsity Blues didn’t get their share of scoring chances, as TMU goaltender Kai Edmonds stood on his head to keep the Bold in the game despite a big lead. Even though the forwards jumped out to a quick scoring start, Edmonds made key saves and the game would’ve been different without his performance.
“I think I played pretty good. The goal got deflected off something, I would’ve liked to obviously have the shutout,” Edmonds humbly said of his performance. “But, overall, I was pretty happy with my game and how the guys played in front of me.” ”
Despite the lopsided score, the Varsity Blues and TMU Bold will meet again on Thursday at the Mattamy Athletic Centre, as the Varsity Blues look for a bit of revenge, while TMU hopes to improve to 3-0-0 on the 2022-23 OUA season.