The Carleton Ravens closed out their final home game of 2010 in memorable fashion Nov. 27, as they embarrassed the York University Lions to the tune of 8-0.
After a disappointing 4-2 loss to the Brock Badgers less than 24 hours earlier, the Ravens responded in a big way in front of a packed arena at the Ice House.
Thirteen Ravens skaters recorded at least a point, including leading scorer Brandon MacLean, who led the way with a goal and three assists on the afternoon.
The home side wasted no time getting on the board, as Derek Wells opened the scoring at 2:44 of the first period. The Aylmer, Que. native took a short pass from MacLean in the slot, and made a quick move to his backhand before sliding the puck past York goaltender Travis Rolheiser.
Ravens assistant captain Ryan Berard said it was essential to come out of the gates quickly after falling behind 3-0 to Brock the previous night.
“Today, all we wanted to do was get off to a quick start and keep the ball rolling from there,” he said. “It was a perfect game and exactly what we needed after a tough loss when we thought we deserved a win.”
Forwards Joey Manley and Linden Bahm added goals of their own in the opening period, forcing Lions head coach Jim Wells to give Rolheiser the hook after allowing three goals on only seven shots.
Unfortunately for York, backup goalie David Blair could not stop the bleeding.
Graham Klassen rounded out the first period scoring on the power play, firing a point shot past a screened Blair, who never had a chance with all of the traffic in front of the net.
Rolheiser was thrown back between the pipes for the start of the second and probably wished he was left on the bench.
Goals from Jordan Deagle and Jeff Hayes were followed by a beautiful snap shot into the roof of the net from Manley, giving the Ravens a 7-0 lead after 40 minutes.
With the result beyond any doubt, the third-period focus was on Ravens goaltender Matthew Dopud.
Despite some quality chances late in the game, the rookie was unbeatable, ultimately making 21 saves for his first career shutout with the team.
MacLean notched his eighth goal of the season late in the game to complete the scoring.
With the win, the Ravens sit alone in second place in the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) East division with 22 points, and improve to an impressive 6-2 on home ice.
“Any time you have home games, you have to take care of business,” said Ravens head coach Marty Johnston. “When you go into places like Université du Qué bec a Trois-Rivières (UQTR) and McGill it’s very tough to win, so it was really important for us to take advantage of the home ice today.”
Johnston’s men close out the calendar year with a Dec. 3 trip to Trois-Rivieres, Que. for a divisional matchup with the UQTR Patriotes, who sit just two points back of Carleton in the standings.
“The turkey always tastes better when you have a couple of wins going into the Christmas break,” Berard said. “So hopefully we can follow this up with a win in Quebec.”