The University of Toronto Varsity Blues men's hockey team opened their 2025 OUA playoffs with a crucial 5-2 win against the Windsor Lancers in their first quarter-final game on Thursday (Feb. 15) night in Windsor.
 
The Blues started the action by grabbing an early lead just two minutes into the game. Eddie Yan found Mason Reeves in the the neutral zone, and as he was streaking down the right wing, Reeves put a shot on netminder Max Donoso, who made the first save but couldn't recover in time as Reeves found his own rebound to grab the opening goal. Toronto kept up the pressure throughout the period, maintaining a strong offensive presence. At the other end of the ice, Rayce Ramsay stood tall, shutting down Windsor's chances. The first period ended with the Blues ahead by one.
 
The next 20 minutes saw Windsor challenge Toronto's dominant offense with strong play of their own. The Lancers broke through Toronto's strong defence, with Travis Hensrud grabbing a rebound to find the open net. Matt McNamara put Windsor ahead by one as he beat Ramsay with a shot from the point. Toronto couldn't find an equalizer for the rest of the period, and went into the third facing a one-goal deficit.
 
Looking to tie the game, the Blues ramped up their efforts in the final period. Three minutes into the third, Mark Cooper — the OUA leader in assists — gained possession in the offensive zone. He sent a perfect tape-to-tape pass to Zack Smith in front of the net, who wasted no time firing it past Donoso to even the score at two apiece. Just past the halfway point of the frame, Nicholas Wong won a faceoff and snapped a quick top corner wrist shot to put the Blues ahead by one. Four minutes later, U of T struck again as Ben Dirven stepped into the slot, took a perfect pass from Jacob King, and tapped the puck into the open net for a crucial insurance goal.
 
With a little over two minutes to go, Windsor pulled their goalie for the man advantage. Despite pressure from the Lancers, Toronto shut down any chances, allowing Ben Woodhouse to score an empty net goal to seal the game at 5-2 for the Blues in the final minute.
 
This win puts the Blues in a strong position as the best-of-three series now shifts to home ice. With just one more win needed to advance to the semifinals, Toronto will have the advantage of playing in front of their home crowd for the remainder of the series.

The Blues will host Game 2 on Saturday, Mar. 1 at Varsity Arena as they look to advance, with puck drop scheduled for 3 p.m. Tickets are available at varsityblues.ca/tickets and the game can be streamed online via oua.tv.