The Carleton men’s varsity hockey team is competing in the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) East semi-final match-up with the dreaded McGill University Redmen Feb. 24, 26 and 28 if necessary.
“It’s going to be real tough and they play really well,” said Raven head coach Fred Parker, about the three-game series that begins Feb. 24 at McGill’s McConnell Arena. “It’s going to be a hard fought series.”
The Ravens advanced from the quarter-finals after defeating the Queen’s Golden Gaels 3-2 in double overtime at the Ice House Feb. 21 in a thrilling game that saw Raven forward Andrew Self tie up the score with 54 seconds left in regulation. This led the way for Ryan Berard to seal the victory with an “ugly goal,” according to Parker, in the fifth period.
“It was a good, hard-fought and well-played series,” said Parker after the team advanced to its date with the Redmen with a win in the deciding game of the three-game series. “The goalies for the most part played well. It was a defensive-minded series, but we got one more goal than them and that was it.”
The Ravens opened the scoring in the first period with a shot by Mark Smith, who blasted home a bullet from the point, right past Gaels goalie Steele De Fazio.
The Gaels would come back a few minutes later, tying up the score with a power-play marker by Payton Liske that beat Raven keeper Alex Archibald.
The score remained tied until four minutes left to play in the third when the Gaels David Chubb potted one to give the visitors a 2-1 lead.
With Archibald pulled in the dying minutes, the Ravens pressed on, resulting in Self’s goal to tie up the game and force overtime.
“There were lots of chances, but the goalies played well,” Parker said. “[Berard] just went to the net hard and he put it in. Everyone played really well and played hard and we got an ugly goal.”
The Ravens quest for the OUA Queen’s Cup now heads to Montreal before returning to the Ice House Feb. 26 for their second game in the semi-final series versus the Redmen.