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The Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) Bold women’s hockey team took to the ice for their first home game of the new year – falling to the Carleton Ravens with a chilly 4-0 loss.
The Friday evening match also marked TMU’s winter homecoming game hosted by the school’s athletics and recreation department. With a “winter whiteout” theme, students were encouraged to attend and wear white to demonstrate their school spirit.
“I think that it is great that everyone came out to support the team today,” said Will Portokalis, who was interviewed after the second period. Portokalis is a forward for TMU’s men’s hockey team and said the atmosphere was “pretty cool to see.”
Fans wearing white littered the interior of the Mattamy Athletic Centre during the homecoming match, waving white rally towels decorated with Bold lettering gifted to fans by TMU. Around 400 fans filled the stadium, according to the final game sheet provided by the TMU Bold. The Mattamy has 2,600 seats for fans of hockey games.
“We were excited to play in front of a larger crowd and really appreciate the opportunity the university and our athletics department gives us to be in a position like this,” Bold head coach Lisa Haley said in an interview after the match. “I feel like we’ve let ourselves down as well as them.”
The Ravens knocked their first goal six minutes into the first period. Eight minutes later, the Bold’s opponents netted two more, bringing the score to 3-0 by the second period.
Entering the second period, the Ravens finished with their fourth and final goal of the game, carrying the 4-0 score into the third period.
Haley said she thinks the first period cost the team the game as an earlier goal could have shifted the game’s momentum.
“We weren’t ready to start, and maybe we were too hyped up about having everybody here and less dialled in on what it takes to execute to beat Carleton back-to-back.”
Within the past week, the Bold had what Haley said was a “flu bug” make its course through the team. She said this illness led to the crew having less time to prepare with each other on the ice.
“I’m not sure our gas tanks were as full as they normally are heading into the first game, but it’s a back-to-back, and it is what it is,” she said. “I’m sure that a lot of other teams are dealing with a certain similar scenario.”
“There was a bug going through our team that I had, and it was not fun. So I just prepped myself for that and am trying to play my game,” Bold forward Eden Dusome said in an interview after the game. Dusome was chosen as the player of the game by teammates.
As for the game’s atmosphere, Dusome said the environment from the homecoming festivities was energizing for her as an athlete.
“Homecoming for women’s hockey is great, and I think it needs to happen more with all women’s sports, not just hockey specifically, but with the PWHL and everything like that,” she said. “I think it’s great to shine a light on women’s hockey like this.”
Haley said the main focus she has for the team as they prepare for their next few games is to focus on the recovery and mindset of the players.
“There’s not a lot of adjustments to be made other than executing the game plan much better than we did for the first half of today’s game,” she said.
Vanessa Tiberio is a Toronto-based reporter with an interest in covering politics, current affairs and culture.
