Every year, UTSC and UTM battle it out in bitter rivalry on the ice during the East-West Classic, which marks the season’s first game between the two campuses. This rivalry stands out among all U of T intramurals, particularly due to the heated play between the two squads that often results in umpteen minutes spent in the penalty box.
Charlie Foster, a second-year medical student, and Kyle Kuczynski, a fourth-year history specialist, pocketed the first two goals less than a minute apart to make the score 2–0 at the end of the first period. In the second period, UTSC scored early, but forward Rory Bourgeois, a fourth-year political science student, brought the score up 3–1 for UTM. The remainder of the second period saw UTM spending the majority of the time in the penalty box, allowing Scarborough to capitalize on available chances and tie the game at 3–3. As the third period got underway, UTM failed to retake the lead and ended up giving up two goals to UTSC, making the score 6–4 and giving UTSC the victory for the fifth straight year in East-West Classic history.
“It was tough to see them carry the trophy at the end of the game,” said assistant coach Michael Keaveney. “We had the game and we let it slip away.”
UTM’s players were reportedly growing frustrated with UTSC and the referees, and lost focus on trying to maintain their lead.
This year’s East-West Classic was strikingly different from previous years’ because of the newly implemented no-contact rules. The Classic is usually marked by extremely physical play between the two sides. “We don’t like each other, and there’s no better feeling than laying a big hit into these guys,” said Bourgeois. He was frustrated with one of UTSC’s players who, he claims, performed dives in order to get UTM in the penalty box. “[Someone should] let him know he can’t be faking falls, or hacking guys legs behind the play,” added Bourgeois.
“I’m not trying to say that it’s the referee’s fault or that player’s fault that we lost, but these refs were not helping us out,” echoed Keaveney.
“We just have to forget about this loss, and play better next time,” said Mark Runciman, a fourth-year criminology major. “We can’t let little things like that bother us, and [we should] focus on winning.”
UTM’s next game is on October 21 against St. George Red at Varsity Arena at 9:00 p.m.
