In a microcosm of the second half of the season, the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières (UQTR) Patriotes eliminated the Carleton Ravens men’s hockey team in a 6-1 loss in the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) East quarterfinals in Trois-Rivières, Que. on March 16.
What began as a promising season for the Ravens, with a 4-2-2 record in 2021, became a nightmare in 2022 as they went completely winless amid roster changes, COVID-19 delays and on-ice struggles.
The Ravens had the fewest opportunities to establish themselves in the league, playing an OUA-low 11 regular season games—far from ideal for a team that lost players mid-season and went undermanned against the powerhouse Patriotes in round one.
In a start reminiscent of many prior games, Carleton struggled mightily in the first minutes and consequently surrendered the game’s first goal to forward Simon Lafrance, who capitalized on a turnover.
“We just didn’t start on time,” Carleton forward Parker Aucoin said.
The Patriotes’ onslaught persisted as they quickly earned another goal from forward Louis-Filip Côté, who tapped an uncleared rebound past Ravens goaltender Mark Grametbauer.
Mere seconds after the ensuing faceoff at centre ice, forward Samuel L’Italien found himself alone in the slot and netted another goal to give the Patriotes a commanding 3-0 lead just 10 minutes into regulation.
The Patriotes had a boisterous home crowd behind them.
“The atmosphere in there was absolutely crazy and they fed off their crowd,” Aucoin said.
At that point, Ravens head coach Shaun Van Allen called a much-needed timeout, allowing his players to escape the whirlwind of the past 10 minutes.
“There was still a lot of hockey left. We had 50 minutes to try and get back into the game. We just had to stop turning the puck over and bury our chances,” Van Allen said. “Unfortunately, it didn’t work out that way.”
To the Ravens’ credit, they had strong shots on Patriotes goaltender Alexis Gravel, but he proved his mettle by stopping everything the Ravens could muster and leaving them in a deep hole after 20 minutes.
After a devastating first period, the Ravens attempted to salvage the game. But the Patriotes executed their defensive game plan perfectly, blocking the centre ice and forcing everything to the corners to limit Carleton’s options.
Ironically, it would be a penalty to Ravens forward Sam Meisenheimer that provided some momentum. If there was one area where Carleton dominated this season, it was on the penalty kill, where they operated with the OUA’s second-best efficiency at 86 per cent.
Killing off the penalty with ease, the Ravens soon executed a brilliant passing play. Aucoin passed to forward Aaron Boyd, who spotted forward Conner Jean for a blistering right-side one-timer, finally beating Gravel to cut the deficit to two.
Suddenly, the Ravens were reinvigorated and playing with confidence, especially Grametbauer, who locked it down after a shaky start.
However, the air was let out of their tires just three minutes into the third by Patriotes forward Zachary Lavigne’s top-corner snipe.
“We scored one to give us a chance in the third, but then they got that fourth one and it was pretty much over after that,” Van Allen said.
Carleton was trapped in the Patriotes’ stifling defensive mold once again, allowing UQTR forward Jordan Martel to score on an odd-man rush only four minutes later.
Equipped with a 5-1 lead, UQTR quietly dominated the Ravens for the rest of the game’s runtime, adding an extra goal from Lafrance for good measure. The Patriotes cruised to a 6-1 win, looking every bit the part of a championship team.
“They’re tough to play against, especially in their rink,” Aucoin said. “They’ll definitely take the OUA.”
The Ravens couldn’t overcome a myriad of issues that plagued them in the second half of the season. Facing the Patriotes in the first round was the final blow.
“As much as the season didn’t end how we wanted it to, we need to give ourselves a lot more credit,” Aucoin said. “We went through so much adversity with losing guys and then we had games cancelled and postponed due to COVID, but the guys still showed up everyday to get better.”
With the 2021-22 season in the books, the team is looking ahead. There will be plenty of new faces in the locker room, as well as room for development in this program. While this season took an unlucky turn, Van Allen is focused on making next season’s squad the best it can be.
“We had to make the best of a bad situation and I think we did,” Van Allen said. “Now we’re just looking forward to next year.”
Featured image provided by UQTR Patriotes.
