The Eyeopener’s Unofficial Sports Awards

By Gavin Axelrod and Jack MacCool

The 2022-23 Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) athletic season came and went in the blink of an eye. Here at The Eyeopener sports section, we subjected ourselves to watching every single Bold game the entire year across every sport—literally every single one. So we think we’re more than qualified to hand out some incredibly important and prestigious hardware to the athletes, coaches and staff that made our coverage possible. Here are The Eye’s 2022-23 Unofficial Sports Awards.

Game of the year: Women’s volleyball senior night

If you were present in the gym for this game, you’d know why it won our ‘Game of the Year’ award. TMU took a quick two-sets-to-none lead with the second of the two being just a three-point game. Then, a McMaster team on the ropes bounced back and took the third and fourth to tie the match, sending it to a deciding fifth set. This fifth and final set needed extra points to decide and the anticipation with each swing of the ball was suffocating. One serve hung on the net for seconds before falling inches past the centre line for a point. Ultimately, it was the Bold who came out on top, sending their seniors home happy in their final regular season games.

Team of the year: Men’s soccer

The Bold men’s soccer team had a banner season, settling for an Ontario University Athletics (OUA) silver medal and earning fifth-place at nationals. It was a historic finish for the program in Kamloops, B.C., as they won their first game ever at nationals and rebounded from an opening-day loss to defeat the Université du Québec à Trois Rivières Patriotes in the consolation final. It was a unanimous decision for the men’s soccer team to take home our ‘Team of the Year’ award, as they were the university’s lone varsity program to qualify for nationals this season.

Moment of the year: Men’s basketball’s 18-point comeback win vs. Carleton Ravens

It was an absolute scene at the Mattamy Athletic Centre (MAC) when the Bold men’s basketball team pulled off an improbable 18-point comeback against the Ravens on Jan. 21. It wasn’t just the number of points they came back from but also how TMU got it done—emphatic play after emphatic play down the stretch against the reigning national champions and eventual OUA leaders. After the lead ballooned to 18 in the second quarter, TMU outscored the Ravens 46-29 in the second half led by some highlight reel slams and clutch shooting. The win was the first time TMU had won against Carleton at home since 2016.

The “WTF that actually happened?” Award: Men’s volleyball sweeps undefeated No. 2 McMaster With an undefeated 18-0 record and the No. 2 ranking next to their name, the McMaster men’s volleyball team strolled into the MAC expecting a run of the mill, business-like win. But the Bold had other plans. With a 9-11 record entering the final game of the regular season, TMU needed to win to make certain they’d appear in the playoffs. The Bold came in and stifled the Marauders, winning in straight sets and never really breaking a sweat until a late third set push by McMaster. The No. 2 ranked team’s undefeated record was no more and it was the first time the team had lost two sets in a single match since Dec. 3.

Athlete to Watch:

Dechlan Papadopoulos

First-year geographic analysis student Dechlan Papadopoulos had a rookie season to remember. The wrestler took home a bronze medal in the 57kg division and then went on to the national stage to claim third place in the same