Photo: Jonathan Antenanie
Just eight months ago the Carleton Ravens walked onto the campus of Cape Breton University and walked out as national champions. Now, the men's soccer team looks to follow in the footsteps of women's basketball and bring home hardware from Sydney.
The road to the ultimate prize kicks off on Thursday with the Carleton Ravens and Montreal Carabins colliding in the tournament's opening game. Backed by the next clutch scoring of Luca Piccioli (Ottawa, Ont.) and Raphael Garcia (Ottawa, Ont.) the Carleton Ravens were the highest-scoring team in the OUA this fall. They'll need to keep up the offence if they're to get past a Carabins team that stunned the Ravens at home in 2021.
For Carleton, while the offence has been a key storyline you can't overlook the play of Tyler David (Hawkesbury, Ont.) in their success. The keeper from the Seaway Valley has been impressive in goal-making acrobatic saves in regulation, and in the shootout during the semifinals, to help the Ravens reach the final.
Carleton kick-off their pursuit of their first national championship when they play at 11:00 a.m. on Thursday on CBC Gem and CBCSports.ca.
Following a tough weekend against Ottawa last weekend the Carleton Ravens look to bounce back on Friday night when the RMC Paladins come to town. The Paladins have had an up-and-down season forcing some of the OUA's very best to overtime and shootouts, including Carleton earlier this year, but have also struggled at times. RMC is last in the OUA with a -32 goal differential while Carleton is mid-pack at +5. Puck drop on Friday night is at 7:00 p.m.
On Saturday, the Ravens welcome one of their most bitter rivals when they host the Queen's Gaels at 7:00 p.m. It's Alumni Night at the Ice House as Ravens players from the past, including the past 15 seasons of Ravens hockey return to town. Carleton will look to climb back up to second place in the OUA East standings after sliding to sixth last weekend, the Gaels enter the weekend just one point ahead despite having the league's hottest line in Dalton Duhart, Nolan Hutcheson and Jonathan Yantsis.
They say there's no place like home, but the Ravens women's hockey team sure got their month-long road trip off to a great start last weekend with a 2-1 double-overtime win against the Ottawa Gee-Gees. Carleton rides a two-game win streak on the road where Athlete of the Week Jenna Morais and the Ravens will look to enact some revenge on the Bishop's Gaiters. Carleton dropped their home opener to their purple rivals and could climb right back into the RSEQ playoff race with a third straight win.
On Sunday afternoon, the Ravens' road trip continues as they head to CEPSUM to face the UdeM Carabins. The Ravens beat UdeM at home last weekend, so revenge will no doubt be on the host's minds.
It's one more week on the road for Ravens basketball. With Home Opener Weekend Presented by McKeen Metro Glebe just around the corner, Carleton heads south to face Western and Windsor this weekend after the men and women picked up wins at Guelph last Saturday.
With tip-off to the home schedule just over a week away, there's still time to become a Carleton Ravens season seat member!
A long way from home, the Carleton Ravens hope to find comfort perched upon the podium as they take to the waters at the Canadian University Rowing Championships in Burnaby, BC. The Ravens have had a fantastic season capturing medals and podiums locally and in major competitions, such as the Head of the Charles. Now, with one last dash to glory, the Ravens rowers will look to prove their small team is mighty capable of competing on the national scene.