Photo by Marc Lafleur
OTTAWA – The Carleton Ravens men’s hockey team had their five-game point streak ended Saturday night after losing 5-2 to the uOttawa Gee-Gees at the Minto Sports Complex.
After Carleton forward Cody Caron (Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.) hit the post two times in his opening two shifts, the puck finally bounced the Ravens way when Parker Aucoin (Sturgeon County, AB.) ripped a shot off a Gee-Gees defender and into the back of the net to give Carleton an early 1-0 lead. The Ravens found themselves in penalty trouble later in the period giving up a two-man advantage after taking back-to-back minor penalties. Bradley Chenier (Kitchener, Ont.) tied the game on the 5-on-3 for the Gee-Gees, and the two teams were even at 1-1 after the opening period.
Both teams started off the second period with excellent scoring chances. Cody Caron (Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.) hit the crossbar on a snapshot that beat the Gee-Gees goaltender, but not the iron. Minutes later, Mathieu Desgagnés (Verdun, QC.) had a great chance on a breakaway, but Carleton goaltender Mark Grametbauer (Halifax, NS.) made a fantastic game to keep the game tied.
Later in the second period, Brogan O’Brien (Prince George, BC.) broke the tie after finishing off a scoring opportunity on the rush. The Raven lead did not last long though, as Nicolas Mattinen (Ottawa, Ont.) tied the game with a goal during a stretch of 4-on-4 hockey. The Gee-Gees nearly took the lead before the end of the second when Cody Van Lierop (Sutton West, Ont.) hit the crossbar on a uOttawa powerplay, but both teams settled for a 2-2 score heading into the third.
In the third period, the Gee-Gees struck with a quick goal from Charles-Antoine Roy (Gatineau, QC.) to give themselves the 3-2 lead, their first lead of the game. Carleton had chances to tie the game with three powerplay opportunities in the period, but the Gee-Gees were able to kill off all their third-period penalties. uOttawa added two late goals and walked away with the 5-2 win on home ice.
“We just need to get back to basics and get healthy. We’ll be alright,” said Ravens head coach Shaun Van Allan post-game.
After the game, Van Allen discussed Carleton’s struggles on the powerplay as they went just 1 for 9 on the powerplay.
“We didn’t work together on the powerplay. We made bad decisions along the boards and that’s why we weren’t successful,” Van Allan said.
The Raven men will return to the Ice House on Thursday, Nov. 25 where they will take on the UQTR Patriotes. The last matchup between these two teams ended in a 7-6 shootout that Carleton came out on the losing end of. Tickets are available now at goravens.ca/tickets!
