Despite a furious late rally, the Carleton Ravens men’s hockey team was unable to overcome a five-goal deficit in the third period Jan. 6, dropping a 7-5 decision to the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières (UQTR) Patriotes.
“It was a tough loss for us because we definitely need the two points,” said Ravens defenceman Mike Folkes. “I don’t think the effort that we all expected to bring was there until about 10 minutes to go in the third period.”
Despite notching the first goal of the game courtesy of captain Brandon MacLean, the Ravens couldn’t hold the lead. After UQTR responded with four unanswered goals, forward Joe Pleckaitis scored late in the second period to bring the Ravens within two. But the first half of the third was dominated by the Patriotes, who slid another three goals past goaltender Matthew Dopud.
The Ravens weren’t finished, though. In the final six minutes of regulation play, Carleton stormed the UQTR end, notching three goals before the final buzzer ended their comeback bid.
“I think we were playing to their level, a little bit, because it was their first game back and we’d already played three,” Folkes said. “But there’s really no excuses. When it comes down to it, we should have played a full 60 minutes and not five or 10 minutes.”
Games between the Patriotes and Ravens are typically very gritty and penalty-filled. Following their last match on Dec. 3, which saw the teams combine for over 240 penalty minutes, the Ravens were prepared for some spill over, Folkes said.
“I think we expected a bit of an overlap from last game but, to be honest, it really wasn’t as bad as a lot of us expected,” Folkes said. “Both teams were chippy and aggressive after the whistles, but I don’t think it was as bad as everyone expected.”
“We talked about discipline and wanted to make sure we weren’t penalty killing too much,” said Ravens head coach Marty Johnston.
The team’s fifth straight loss was especially difficult for Dopud, who made 15 saves in the game.
“He was put in a really tough spot,” Johnston said. “A lot of odd-man rushes, a couple of breakaways, some power play goals where he didn’t have sight of the puck . . . Although the score indicated that he had a rough night, it definitely wasn’t his game that hurt us. It was the 18 guys in front of him.”
Despite the final score, the game did have some silver lining for the Ravens. Two new recruits for the 2011-12 season scored their first career goals in Canadian Interuniversity Sport, as both forward Andrew Glass and defenceman Mike Folkes found the back of the net.
“It was nice to get a goal, finally, but it definitely would’ve felt a lot nicer if we had come out with the win,” Folkes said. “It was nice to get that one off my chest, there, but I just wish it was a better outcome for the team.”
Carleton will look to snap their losing skid Jan. 13 when they face off against the Nipissing Lakers, who are tied with the Ravens for fourth in the Ontario University Athletics East Division.
