The Toronto Varsity Blues men’s hockey team defeated the Western Mustangs on Saturday at the Varsity Arena. This win moved the Blues record to 11-2 and vaulted them into first place in the Ontario University Athletics West standings.
The Blues got off to a slow start, with Mustangs left winger Kolten Olynek getting on the board with an early powerplay goal. The Blues responded when newcomer Kyle Potts buried a rebound off a shot from Justin Brand. Toronto’s pressure continued, and they got another goal to end the first period with the lead when Ross Krieger shot home a one-timer off a two-on-one opportunity with only a minute left in the first period.
Toronto’s leading scorer, David Thomson, continued his hot start to the season, firing an innocent-looking shot on the Western goal, which found its way into the net, giving the Blues a 3–1 lead.
With roughly five minutes left in the frame, Krieger entered the zone with a burst of speed, and tried to go wide on the Western defenseman, but was knocked down. Krieger then regained his footing, deked past two Western defenders, and found Kyle Clarke for the tap-in goal. Western was able to get another goal on the board before the period ended, but Toronto was feeling confident going into the third period, having doubled their lead from the previous intermission.
Toronto scored two more goals in the third period, the first a deflection from Chase Olsen, and the second a goal batted out of mid air by Oliver Benwell. Though Western was able to get one more goal, they weren’t close enough, as Toronto cruised to a 6–3 victory.
Toronto outshot Western 35–25, and goalie Alex Bishop had a 0.880 save percentage to earn the win.
Toronto’s next home game is against the Waterloo Warriors on Saturday, November 30, at the Varsity Arena, where they will hopefully continue to be undefeated.
