OTTAWA - On Monday the Carleton Ravens announced the 2021-2022 team MVPs. After a season that was 18-months in the making Carleton Ravens student-athletes wasted little time getting down to business in 2021-22. In a year marked by uncertainty, pauses in the schedule and the looming COVID-19 pandemic these Ravens competed with grit and tenacity.
On the hardcourt Aidan Warnholtz (Kanata, Ont.) and Kali Pocrnic (Oakville, Ont.) received team honours. Warnholtz, the Nike Top Performer in the U SPORTS Final 8 Championship Game, Warnholtz had an impressive 2021-22 season recording career highs in points (181), assists (60), rebounds (53) and steals (20) all in his first season as a starter. At the national championship tournament Warnholtz recorded 13 rebounds, 14 assists and 46 points. On the women's team, Kali Pocrnic continued her dominance of the OUA recording a career-high 190 points to go along with 41.8% shooting including 38% from beyond the arc. In February, Pocrnic set a career-high when she scored 23-points at Laurentian.
For Ravens fencing, MVP honours were bestowed upon Daniel Manyoki (Kanata, Ont.) and Jillian Hu-Tcherykh (Ottawa, Ont.). Hu-Techerykh had an impressive debut as a first-year member of the Ravens team. The local fencer finished 14th in the Women's Foil event helping the Ravens in seventh place with 62 points. On the men's side, third-year Daniel Manyoki made an impressive switch from foil to sabre to help the Ravens team capture the OUA Bronze medal.
On the gridiron, rookie kicker Brandon Forcier (Ange-Gardien, Que.) burst onto the scene in the OUA setting a program record with 10 consecutive successful field goal attempts to start his career. Forcier, who also finished the season a perfect 9-9 in PATs scored 39 points for the Ravens including a clutch game-winning field goal against the UofT Varsity Blues.
On the golf course, Daniel Ryan (Ottawa, Ont.) and Emma Harvie (Greely, Ont.) the best of a shortened season showing strong at the OUA Championship hosted at Cherry Hill. Harvie led the way for the Ravens on the women's side, finishing in the top 15 at the provincial tournament, battling the elements to shoot an 88. A vital member of the Ravens team, Harvie was also awarded the Gail Blake Memorial Scholarship for her contributions to the program. On the men's side, Daniel Ryan was the lone Raven to crack the top ten, finishing +2 (73) in a four-way tie for ninth. Ryan and the Ravens qualified for Cherry Hill after finishing the regional qualifier in third place.
Leaders on the ice Marie-Eve Cote (Quebec City, Que.) and Aaron Boyd (Winnipeg, Man.) played integral roles in their teams' seasons. Boyd earned the OUA East/Far East Most Sportsmanlike Award. After starting the season with points in six straight games, Boyd led the way with 13 points in just 11 games. Despite his impressive season offensively, Boyd shines most with his 200-foot game, where he’s a key contributor at both ends of the rink while only recording six minutes in penalties the entire season. In her second season with the Ravens, Cote was a stabilizing factor for the Ravens. Facing a league-high 411 shots, Cote managed a 4-8 record while recording two shutouts and maintaining a 3.58 GAA. Her two shutouts tie Tamber Tisdale and Katelyn Steele for the single-season record.
No strangers to OUA success, Devon Pegrum (Ottawa, Ont.) and Kate Mason (Ottawa, Ont.) were leaders of the nordic skiing team. The second-year racers provide a bright light for the Ravens' future having both collected a series of medals in regional and OUA competitions. OUA All Star Kate Mason finished 4th in the interval start before winning silver in the Mass Start and winning a second bronze medal in the Team Relay. Also named an OUA All Star, Pegrum won the Bronze medal in the men's interval start and helped the team win a second bronze in the team relay while also finishing in the top ten in the men's mass start.
Shifting from the snow to the water, Ravens rowing was led in 2021 by medalists Brendan Edge (Arnprior, Ont.) and Meghan Jolley (Strathroy, Ont.). Edge claimed bronze in the men’s lightweight men’s single while leading the young Ravens team. A newcomer to the Ravens team, but no stranger to his longtime coach Ed Fournier, Edge gave it his everything among the stiff competition to earn his spot on the podium. After suffering a midseason injury, Ravens team captain Meghan Jolley earned a personal best at the OUA Championships in the lightweight women’s single claiming a sixth-place finish.
Lauryn Walker (Brampton, Ont.) was tied for the rugby team's lead with seven tries. Perhaps her most notable score of the season came in the Ravens historic 7-0 win over the Concordia Stingers in the RSEQ quarterfinals. The win would help the Ravens advance to their first bronze medal in program history two weeks later – in a game that also featured a score from Walker.
On the pitch, a pair of midfielders were honoured as MVPs for the Ravens soccer teams. Mya VanHaster (Waterdown, Ont.) provided the women's soccer team with stability at midfield. This first-year Raven played with a pace and consistency of a veteran while starting in all nine of her games played. A late winner in extra time may go down as the biggest goal ever scored at the Ravens' Perch. Captain Ricky Comba (Ottawa, Ont.) pushed the Ravens into the national finals against Montreal and sent the Ravens' Perch into a frenzy. With three goals on the season, the Journalism major led the Ravens to their third straight national championship tournament appearance and eventual silver medal.
With a pair of goals in the OUA Championship match, Leandro Velazquez capped off the list of MVP honours bringing home the award for men's water polo. The second-year engineering student from Ottawa played a key role for the Ravens as they advanced through the East regional to host the OUA Championship at the Carleton Pool.
