The University of Toronto Varsity Blues men's hockey team defeated the Laurier Golden Hawks 5-2 on Friday (Feb. 8) night at Varsity Arena.

Thanks to the win and a Lakehead Thunderwolves loss, the Blues clinched their first playoff spot since 2017.

HOW IT HAPPENED: The Blues struck first on the man advantage. Hunter Atchinson's rebound found Evan MacEachern all alone beside the net and he made no mistake 7:42 into the contest. In the final minute, Riley Bruce's dump took a friendly bounce off the glass and found Joey Manchurek in the slot. The first-year forward went low blocker to double Toronto's lead to 2-0 heading into the first intermission.
 

MHKY: The Blues are up 2-0 on the @WLUAthletics after the opening 20 minutes. Evan MacEachern was in the right spot for the powerplay goal! WE ALL #BLEEDBLUE #WeAreTO pic.twitter.com/d1OJtIjdXm

— U of T Varsity Blues (@Varsity_Blues) February 9, 2019

The Blues continued to pour on the pressure. Just over a minute into the second, team captain Aidan Wallace pushed in Matt Campagna's rebound to extend their lead to 3-0. Laurier responded two minutes later thanks to Anthony Sorrentino to cut the deficit to two. The visiting team inched closer later on with Jake Henderson finding the back of the net at 11:08 to make it 3-2. That was as close the Golden Hawks got. Just 42 seconds later, Scott Kirton's lob pass hit Kevin Lavoie for a breakaway and the third-year forward converted to regain the two goal lead. U of T went into the second intermission up 4-2.
 

MHKY: The Blues are up 4-2 on the @WLUAthletics heading into the final period. Kevin Lavoie took the lob and converted on the breakaway for Toronto's fourth goal of the game! WE ALL #BLEEDBLUE #WeAreTO pic.twitter.com/5KcCNwJrdK

— U of T Varsity Blues (@Varsity_Blues) February 9, 2019

Just over 90 seconds into the third, Campagna found Justin Brand back door for the insurance goal.

First-year Alex Bishop made 24 save in the victory.

UP NEXT: Stay tune to varsityblues.ca for the playoff schedule.