OTTAWA - The Carleton Ravens are off to the U SPORTS National Championships after a thrilling victory in penalty kicks Wednesday night.
With the win the Ravens will now host the York Lions, who also advanced on penalties, at TAAG Park on Saturday afternoon at 3:30 p.m.
The Ravens trailed in the match after Connor Carroll knocked one past Tyler David to open the scoring in the first half. Despite carrying large portions of the play, the Ravens continued to trail the Badgers after 45 minutes.
The Ravens opened the scoring quickly in the second half, earning a penalty just six minutes into the frame. The Ravens' premier scorer Luca Piccioli stepped up to take the penalty and made no mistake beating the Badgers keeper low and to the left.
The two teams would exchange opportunities for the rest of the half, but with the majority of possession in the middle of the park the half would end tied at one.
Both teams traded chances in extra time, with the Badgers' best opportunity coming off a cheeky ball put directly on goal to open the second half of the overtime. With neither team breaking the deadlock the game headed to penalty kicks at TAAG Park.
Both teams scored in the first two rounds of penalties before Tyler David made an outstanding save to put Carleton ahead. After each goalie made a save in the next round it was up to the quarterfinal hero, Eric Yoseke, who made no mistake tucking the ball to the bottom left for the victory.
With the win the Ravens will now host York, who advanced with a victory in penalties over Ontario Tech, in the OUA Championship Game this Saturday afternoon at 3:00 p.m.
The Ravens have also qualified for a spot at the 2023 U SPORTS National Championships being hosted by Cape Breton University in Sydney, Nova Scotia.
Tickets for this Saturday's game are on sale now at GoRavens.ca/Tickets!
