Photo by Marc Lafleur
OTTAWA – The Carleton Ravens men’s hockey team returned to action on October 12, kicking off their preseason campaign in North Bay. The fresh faced Ravens squad would play three games during the week going 1-2 as they look to return to form after a year away from the action.
The Ravens preseason started with a stumble on Tuesday, a morning road trip to North Bay saw the Ravens taking on the Nipissing Lakers at Memorial Gardens. With both teams trying to readjust to OUA competition the game was scoreless through one before Cole Carter (Orleans, Ont.) would open the scoring for the Ravens. Parker AuCoin (Sturgeon County, Alta.) would add a second for the Ravens just give minutes later on the powerplay before the Lakers would rally back. The Ravens found themselves tied at two late in the third when Nipissing’s Payton Vescio scored the game-winner beating rookie Vincent Boujold-Roux (Nepean, Ont.). The Ravens would drop their first game of the preseason 3-2 and return home for a big home-and-home weekend with their crosstown rivals from uOttawa.
In their first home action of the preseason, the Ravens hosted the Gee-Gees on Friday afternoon at the Ice House. After the Gee-Gees opened the scoring in the first with a shorthanded goal the Ravens would battle back scoring three in the second to lead 3-2 after two. After Nicholas Mattinen scored on the powerplay to start the third period, the Gee-Gees would take a 4-3 lead into the final two minutes. With just over 90 seconds to play in regulation C.J. Garcia (Pickering, Ont.) would score to send the game to overtime. In the extra frame, Aaron Boyd (Winnipeg, Man.) would score his second point of the night giving the Ravens a 5-4 victory for their first of the preseason.
On Saturday night the two teams would meet again down Colonel By at the Minto Sportsplex. In a penalty-filled affair the two teams wasted little time reacquainting. Mark Grametbauer (Halifax, N.S.) stood tall for the Ravens stopping 27 of 30 shots but it was the Gee-Gees would come away with revenge scoring twice in the game’s first eight minutes. Down two after one, Liam Ryan (New Westminster, B.C.) would score his first preseason goal as a Raven to cut the lead in half. Despite their best efforts in the third the Ravens couldn’t beat Tristan Berube again, and the Gee-Gees would add one on the final minute to top the Ravens 3-1.
The Ravens are in action next October 28 and 29 when they take a short trip to The Six to face Ontario Tech and the University of Toronto.
The Ravens regular season starts on the road against uOttawa on November 4 before opening their home schedule on Friday, November 12, 2021.
