Photo by Marc Lafleur
The Carleton Ravens men’s hockey team got back in the winning column on Thursday night against the UQTR Patriotes with a 2-1 victory thanks to a 38-save performance from goaltender Mark Grametbauer (Halifax, N.S.).
The Ravens played an excellent opening 20 minutes to set the tone in this game. After some early saves by Carleton’s Mark Grametbauer, the Ravens opened the scoring and jumped out to the early lead. Simon Kerr wired a low wrist-shot from the point that Oliver Castleman (Ottawa, Ont.) tipped in for his fourth goal of the year to put Carleton up 1-0. On the very next shift, the Ravens doubled their lead to two after Parker Aucoin (Sturgeon County, Alta.) scored five-hole on a breakaway set up by Brogan O’Brien (Prince George, B.C.).
Carleton followed up a strong start in the first period with some strong penalty killing in the second. After taking no minor penalties in the opening frame, the Ravens fell behind shorthanded three separate times in the second period killing off each UQTR powerplay. The Ravens penalty kill was aided by the continued strong play of Mark Grametbauer (Halifax, N.S.) who stopped all 14 UQTR shots in the period.
After the second period, Carleton forward Madoka Suzuki (Kanagawa, Japan) spoke about his rookie season with Carleton. Suzuki was a scratch in this game as he is still recovering from an Achilles injury.
“We always hear from coach Van Allan about what a tough division we are in this year. We know that we are going to face a big challenge every night, and the games are going to be very close. So far that’s definitely what we have seen.” Suzuki said.
UQTR gave Carleton a scare in the third period with wave-after wave of sustained pressure in the Ravens’ defensive zone. Les Patriotes spoiled Mark Grametbauer’s (Halifax, N.S.) shutout after a UQTR goal with three minutes to play in the final period, setting up a dramatic finish. Down 2-1 with the net empty, UQTR could not find the tying goal and the Ravens hung on for the win. Grametbauer (Halifax, N.S.) finished with a tremendous 38 saves on 39 shots to secure his third win of the season.
With this game in the books, the Carleton Ravens have played their final home game of the 2021 calendar year. The Ravens will be back in action at the Ice House starting Thursday, Jan. 13 where they will take on the Concordia Stingers at 7:00.
In the meantime, come out and support the Carleton Ravens women’s hockey team as they take on the Bishop’s Gaiters at the Ice House on Friday, Dec. 3. Tickets are available now at goravens.ca/tickets.
