The Carleton Ravens men’s hockey team dropped game one of their Ontario University Athletics (OUA) East semifinal Feb. 23 in Trois-Rivières, Que, losing 4-2 at the hands of the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières (UQTR) Patriotes.
Pierre-Alexandre Joncas put UQTR up just 48 seconds into the game. The Ravens outshot the Patriotes 11-7 in the opening frame but trailed after 20 minutes.
Ravens head coach Marty Johnston said he was pleased with how his team responded to falling behind early.
“I think we played fairly well after that,” Johnston said. “We had three opportunities where I thought for sure we would score. We were a little disappointed we didn’t finish the same way.”
Things did not start any better for the Ravens in the second period when Étienne Bellavance-Martin scored 42 seconds in. Carleton continued to press, but Olivier Donovan scored his third of the playoffs while short-handed to give the Patriotes a 3-0 lead.
Ryan Berard’s third goal of the post-season got the Ravens on the board in the dying seconds of the second period and breathed some life into the club heading into the final period. Joey Manley won a faceoff back to Berard, who fired it top corner to get Carleton on the board.
Three minutes into the third, captain Brad Good brought Carleton to within one with his first goal of the playoffs. The Ravens brought intense pressure, and forced the Patriotes to call a timeout early in the period.
“We played the way we can in the third period,” Johnston said. “I thought we really took it to them.”
Felix Petit’s OUA-leading fifth goal of the playoffs punctured the Ravens comeback hopes mid-way through the third, however. The puck took a funny bounce on a Patriotes dump-in, and Ravens forward Shane Bakker over-skated the puck, allowing Petit to slide it into an empty net. The Ravens threw seven shots at Jean-Christophe Blanchard in the period, but were unable to edge any closer. Blanchard finished with 22 saves on the night.
His Ravens counterpart Matthew Dopud stopped 11 of 15 shots in the loss, including a breakaway in the dying seconds of the first period.
Game one marked the sixth time this season the Ravens have fallen behind 3-0 in a game. They’re now 1-5 in those games.
The best-of-three series now turns to Ottawa for game two Feb. 25. A win for UQTR will propel them to the eastern conference final for the fourth year in a row, while a loss would send the series back to Quebec for a winner-take-all game three Feb. 26.
Johnston lamented that his team may have let one slip away.
“The guys are really disappointed,” he said. “The game was there for the taking and we missed an opportunity. I think you’re going to see a very determined group for [game two].”
Puck drop for game two Feb. 25 is 7:30 p.m. at the Ice House following the women, who play game two of their series against the McGill Martlets at 3:30 p.m.