By: Mason Bugaresti
The Carleton Ravens men's hockey team has lost three straight games following a 5-2 loss at UQTR on Friday night.
Facing the defending national champion Patriotes, the Ravens took an early penalty as Braeden Virtue (Worcester, Ma) went off for a tripping call less than two minutes into the game. Carleton has been penalty-plagued so far this season and have found themselves shorthanded 28 times – the 2nd most in the OUA. This time, the penalty killing came up big and the Ravens were able to whether the early storm.
Carleton started to put consecutive shifts in the UQTR defensive zone powered by the team’s forecheck. James Mayotte (Brockville, Ont.) took the puck around the outside and behind the net where he found Aidan Wagner (Langley, B.C.) open in the slot who made no mistake snapping one past the goaltender to put the Ravens up 1-0 just nine minutes in.
Shortly after, UQTRQ would find themselves in some penalty trouble giving Carleton nearly two minutes of a five-on-three powerplay. Despite some chances, the Ravens could not convert on a golden opportunity to take a 2-0 lead and finished the period 0/3 on the powerplay. Shaun Van Allan’s team would have to settle for a 1-0 lead after a tight first period where the Ravens outshot the Patriotes 12-11.
The tide of the game turned in the second period as the Patriotes jumped out to a 3-1 lead scoring three goals in less than five minutes. The Ravens gave up two shorthanded goals to UQTR captain Zachary Lavigne (Drummondville, Que.) before David Noel (Quebec City, Que.) added a third goal for UQTR just as a Carleton penalty was expiring.
Carleton fought back in the latter part of the period as Will Collins (Ottawa, Ont.) fed Alex Johnston (Ottawa, Ont.) who scored his second goal of the year to bring the Ravens within one.
The Ravens once again ran into penalty trouble in the third period taking four minor penalties - one of them resulting in a Simon Lafrance (St. Eustache, Que.) powerplay goal to double the UQTR lead. Carleton spent much of the third period killing penalties, only amassing five shots on goal in the final frame. UQTR would add an empty netter with under a minute to go, improving their perfect record to 6-0-0 on the season.
The Ravens’ next home game is Friday, Nov 4 at the Ice House against the McGill Redbirds. The puck drops at 7:00 p.m. Tickets are available now!
