The University of Toronto Varsity Blues men's hockey team fell 3-1 to the TMU Bold in an exhibition game on Thursday (Sept. 18) night at the Mattamy Athletic Centre in Toronto.

In the first period, TMU opened the scoring as fourth-year forward William Portokalis converted less than six minutes into the game. The Blues generated nine shots in the opening frame but were turned aside by Bold goaltender Kai Edmonds, heading into the first intermission trailing 1-0.

The second period saw no scoring, though Toronto pressed with 11 shots while holding TMU to seven. Both Edmonds and first-year Blues goaltender Nick Surzycia stood tall, keeping the score unchanged through 40 minutes.

The third period brought plenty of action. TMU doubled its lead at when third-year defenseman Jaden Raad found the back of the net. U of T was quick to respond. Just four minutes later fourth-year forward Zack Smith buried his second goal of the preseason, finishing a feed from fourth-year defenseman Mark Cooper, cutting the deficit to 2-1.With the net empty the Blues pushed for an equalizer but a goal from forward Slava Melikov secured the win for TMU.

Surzycia was strong in net for the Blues with 29 saves.

The Blues are back in action on Sunday (Sept. 21) afternoon against the Ottawa Gee-Gee's at Varsity Arena. Puck drop is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. and tickets are available at varsityblues.ca/tickets.