Photo by Marc Lafleur
If there were any suspicions that the Ravens would be rusty after their week off, they were squashed early and often Friday night against Ontario Tech. The Raven men opened the scoring in the fourth minute through Matteo De Brienne (Ottawa, Ont.) and never looked back on their way to another blowout win, 7-1 over the Ridgebacks.
After the De Brienne opener, which was a lovely chip over the keeper following a through ball thanks to a quick free-kick from the Ravens, Carleton scored four goals in a twelve-minute span from the 27th to the 39th minute. It started with a great run from Scott Mazzotta (Ottawa, Ont.). The ball made its way to Mazzotta on the left side, and he drove at his defender, beat him to the byline and fired it at goal; It ricocheted off the Ridgebacks keeper into the net.
After Ricky Coomba (Ottawa, Ont.) scored to make it three-nil Ravens thanks to a great run from De Brienne, Gabriel Bitar (Ottawa, Ont.) scored three straight goals to seal the win for the Ravens.
Bitar was unstoppable all game and ran the show in midfield for the Ravens with help from Junior Asare (Ottawa, Ont.). Bitar’s first goal was the pick of the bunch as he picked the ball up in midfield and unleashed a thunderbolt from outside the box that smashed the top corner. His second goal came after turning a Ridgeback defender inside out with a lovely flick and then subsequently was fouled in the box. Bitar rattled home the succeeding penalty, and the Ravens went into the interval up five goals. In the first minute of the second half, Bitar collected a poor clearance from a Ridgeback defender, shifted the ball to evade another defender, poked it home to complete the hattrick, and went home with the game ball.
The teams traded goals late in the game, but there was no doubt who the better team was on the day. The Ravens finished with fourteen shots to the Ridgebacks three and could have had more goals if they didn’t appear to take their foot off the gas pedal in the second half. However, the difference in pace and technical ability was too much to handle, as it has been for every Raven opponent all year long.
It’s been practically a perfect start to the season for Carleton, as they look better and better with every passing game. The next test for the Ravens is the second part of the home and home with the Ridgebacks on Sunday afternoon at the Raven’s Perch. The kickoff is set for 2:00 PM.
The weekend after that, the Ravens face their toughest test yet as they will play a two-game set with the fourth-ranked team in the country, the York Lions. So mark your calendars, Raven fans. You won’t want to miss any of the upcoming fixtures.
