Written by Mason Bugaresti
OTTAWA – Danny Assaf (Ottawa, Ont.) got the scoring going in this one as the Carleton Ravens picked up their first home win of the 2022 season defeating the Nipissing Lakers by a score of 4-1.
With the home crowd at TAAG Park behind them, the Ravens flew out to a fantastic start. Carleton was in control of the match earning themselves five corner-kicks in the opening 10 minutes. In the 16th minute, Scott Mazzotta (Ottawa, Ont.) won the ball back in midfield and played it forward for Danny Assaf (Ottawa, Ont.). Collecting the ball on his left foot, Assad drilled a strike off the post and in to give Carleton an early 1-0 lead.
The Lakers found their legs after the opening 30 minutes as they started to put pressure on the Ravens. A Carleton mix-up at the back sent Lakers forward Ayden Harris (Ottawa, Ont.) alone in on goal, but his grade-A chance was denied by a huge save from Carleton keeper Tyler David (Hawkesbury, Ont.). A Nipissing corner nearly found the back of the net, but the ball was headed off the goal line by Ravens’ defender Christopher Malekos (Saint-Hyppolyte, Que.) to keep the Lakers off the scoreboard. After a back-and-forth first half, the Ravens led 1-0.
Nipissing pushed hard for an equalizing goal coming out of halftime. Tyler David made two spectacular stops in the opening 15 minutes of the half to halt the Lakers’ attack. The Ravens added some goal-support for their keeper with two goals in the second half, including a 64th -minute screamer from Quinn Honeyman-Wootton (Chelsea, Que.) that flew past the Nipissing keeper in stunning fashion doubling the Carleton lead to 2-0.
“I don’t hit them often, but when you connect like that it feels good,” Honeyman-Wootton said poast-game.
Just two minutes later in the 67th minute, Mohamed Bouzidi (Ottawa, Ont.) tapped in a rebound to put the Ravens up 3-0, putting this match to bed. Nipissing pulled a goal back in the 81st minutes as Jack Collins (Ottawa, Ont.) spoiled what would have been Tyler David’s (Hawkesbury, Ont.) second clean sheet of the season. Carleton’s Bouzidi would add another goal just before the final whistle, as the Ravens took this one by a score of 4-1.
“I thought we controlled the tempo of the game. I think getting 4 goals at home is a good start for us, and hopefully we can continue that moving forward,” Carleton head coach Kwesi Loney said after the match.
The Ravens head to Toronto next weekend for a pair of road clashes. First up is a date with Toronto Metropolitan University on Sept. 24 before taking on the University of Toronto Varsity Blues on Sept. 25. The next Carleton home game is Oct. 7 where the Ravens will take on the Ontario Tech Ridgebacks at 7 p.m. live from TAAG Park during Pride Night as part of the Carleton Pride Festival.
