In a rivalry game defined by grit as much as goals, the 2025 Colonel By Classic saw a combined 53 minutes of penalties and multiple fights, ending in a 6-4 victory for the uOttawa Gee-Gees.
Despite a third-period surge, the Carleton Ravens men’s hockey team came up short of a comeback, failing to capture back-to-back titles in front of a lively crowd on Saturday afternoon at TD Place Arena.
Carleton took the first penalty of the night on a cross-checking call just a minute and a half into the game, jumpstarting the physicality between the two teams.
A brief scuffle quickly broke out in front of the Ravens’ net during the Gee-Gees’ power play, setting the tone for the period, which resulted in a staggering eight penalties between the two teams in the first.
“Our game plan was not to take a lot of penalties. We knew this game, there’s a lot of emotion involved, so sometimes it gets the better of some people,” Ravens coach Mark Cavallin said after the game.
The Gee-Gees got on the board first, capitalizing on a clean two-on-one rush.
Marc-Antoine Séguin tipped the puck into the net, giving the Gee-Gees the lead before Carleton had even gotten a shot on net.
Another Ravens penalty followed, letting uOttawa maintain their aggressive pace.
Carleton eventually pushed back, spending more time in the Gee-Gees’ zone, but the Gee-Gees intercepted several passes before the Ravens could build and maintain pressure.
The Ravens’ Tomasz Szczerba created their best scoring chance of the period on a breakaway, but his clean shot was blocked.
With 23 seconds left on the clock, Carleton took another penalty — this time for interference.
The Gee-Gees wasted no time with the man advantage, as Séguin netted his second goal of the game to close out the period up 2-0.
The Ravens ended the first period with only three shots on net.
The Gee-Gees opened the second just as they ended the first: with pace and pressure.
A fight broke out just one minute into the frame in front of Carleton’s net, earning the Gee-Gees a slashing penalty and the Ravens some offensive pressure.
Still uOttawa kept strong, firing multiple shots on net as Carleton goaltender Dylan Meilun stood tall, keeping the Ravens in the game.
The period began to unravel for the Ravens as Gee-Gee’s Max Grondin buried uOttawa’s third goal of the night.
Just after the halfway mark of the game, the tension finally boiled over when a heavy knee-on-knee collision between uOttawa’s Peter Stratis and Carleton’s Peter Amanatidis escalated into a full altercation, getting both benches on their feet.
Stratis — who got the brunt of the hit — was forced to leave the game, and Amanatidis received a five-minute major interference, adding to an already stacked penalty count.
On the resulting 5-on-3 power play, Mitch Martin tipped in Ottawa’s fourth goal of the night, making it 4–0.
With two minutes remaining, the puck still hadn’t left Carleton’s zone since the major penalty, leaving uOttawa in full control.
“They have a good power play. In a game like that, it’s very emotional. It can get out of hand,” Ravens captain Blake Allan said. “I thought our kill was great, but it takes away from the five-on-five aspect, which sucks, but it’s just part of it.”
With 51 seconds left in the second, Carleton finally found a spark. On their only shot of the period, Nick McCarry buried a one-timer from Felix Bedard and Alex Johnston, giving the Ravens their first goal and a much-needed boost heading into the third.
“Once we scored the one in the second, that was going to hurt them. Definitely, the momentum changed. We did give ourselves a chance at the end,” Cavallin said.
The final frame opened dramatically when a fight broke out in front of uOttawa’s net less than a minute in, setting up another round of 4-on-4 play.
After a uOttawa slashing call, Carleton earned another power play — and this time, they made it count.
Johnston hammered in a one-timer to make it 4-2, giving some life to the Ravens team.
Carleton started playing a more confident game, spending significant time in uOttawa’s zone and generating scoring chances. But momentum swung back at 6:29 when Ethan Montroy’s shot found the back of the net after a scramble, extending uOttawa’s lead to 5–2.
The Ravens weren’t done yet.
With seven minutes remaining, another scramble in front of the net led to matching penalties, and Carleton struck back.
At 13:41, Reese Belton scored from directly in front, followed a little more than a minute later by Felix Bedard’s goal at 15:02, cutting the deficit to 5-4.
Carleton pulled their goalie and pressed for their final tying goal, but with 43 seconds left, uOttawa sealed it with an empty net goal from Grondin, ending the comeback hope.
“I thought the way that we clawed back in the third period was a testament to our team,” shared Allen. “We’ve got to find a way to do it for 60 minutes.”
The Ravens will be back in action on Jan. 9 in Montreal against the McGill Redbirds.
Featured image by Simon McKeown/the Charlatan
