The Carleton Ravens men’s hockey team bounced back from a narrow loss to open the season with a 11-0 victory over the Royal Military College (RMC), and then topped the Laurentian Voyageurs 6-3 to earn their first two wins of the season.
“We were certainly happy to see some of our new players record their first goals and get that going offensively,” said Ravens head coach Marty Johnston. “We had a couple lines produced against McGill [last week], but we had production from all four lines, so were we’re really happy with that.”
The Ravens scored their first goal of the game a minute into the opening period and never looked back. Carleton would later add two more goals in the first, then two in the second, and six in the final frame. Seventeen skaters registered a point in the blowout victory.
Brent Norris led the way offensively for the Ravens, notching three goals while adding two assists. Francis Dupuis earned the win in goal, stopping 18 shots along the way.
The high octane offence continued to be on display the following day when Carleton took on Laurentian at the Ice House.
“Laurentian has always provided us with tough games,” Johnston said. “They’re typically very physical and a well structured team so we wanted to make sure we were ready for them.”
The Ravens jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first, but allowed it to slip away and went to the dressing room tied at two after two.
“We have to find a little bit more consistency and giving up a two nothing lead wasn’t great, but the guys battled back in the third, the boys responded well,” Johnston said. “We had a big goal by [Alex] Boivin that really helped swing momentum in the third.”
Brett Welychka earned two assists in the game. Welychka currently sits third in Canadian Interuniversity Sports (CIS) scoring, with five goals and three assists through three games.
“He had offers to go to American Hockey League camps and we’re finding out why now,” Johnston said. “He’s certainly become an important player for our team.”
Patrick Killeen earned his first win of the season, stopping 33 shots.
“We worked very hard and the effort was great,” Killeen said. “But we still need to tighten up on our systems, but that will come with time and practice . . . I think it’s big for us to get back into winning games.”
This was a big bounce back weekend after losing their season opener to McGill 5-4 at the Ice House. After the loss the team stressed how each game is important in the short CIS season, a subject they reiterated after the wins.
“In this league, there is usually only a small difference between teams at the top of the league when it comes to points. So every game is important,” Killeen said.
The Ravens now have a 2-1 record and will hit the ice next on Oct. 24 at Waterloo.
