Fresh off receiving the first-place ranking in the Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS), the top-ranked Carleton Ravens men’s soccer team took on two teams sitting in the middle of the standings Sept. 21-22.
The Ravens came out with less than satisfactory results, losing 2-1 to the Laurentian University Voyageurs Sept. 21 and then playing to a 0-0 tie against the Nipissing University Lakers Sept. 22.
“Today was just an overall poor performance on our part,” assistant coach Kwesi Loney said about the game against the Lakers. “We did not perform to our expectations, this was one of the more disappointing games of the season, and hopefully it will be the last one.”
Prior to the weekend, the Ravens were undefeated, with only one tie against the Ryerson Rams Sept. 1. With the Ravens entering the second half of the season, this past weekend will likely be a building block for the team moving forward.
“We’re at the halfway point of the season now. This weekend should definitely be a wake-up call for us,” Loney said. “We’ve started well, but consistency is the key, so we just need to keep working hard, focusing on more training sessions.”
The Ravens will be coming back to Ottawa and get a chance to play some games at home, having played the majority of their games on the road.
“We really like to play at home. We’ve been on the road for a really long time now,” Loney said.
With some more time spent at home, getting back on their feet shouldn’t be too difficult a task for the Ravens, but it will take more than a good night’s sleep in their own beds to completely turn things around.
Michael Calof, a third-year defender, said he thinks the team’s effort is there, but that they can still play better.
“I think [we] can definitely step up, the effort is there but we just need to find a way to dig deeper,” Calof said.
Following the disappointing weekend, the Ravens have dropped from being ranked first in the CIS to sixth.
The Ravens will now play five of the last seven games of their season at home, starting with rematches against the two teams Sept. 28-29.
