The Carleton Ravens men’s soccer team clinched first place in the Ontario University Athletic (OUA) East standings this weekend after winning their last two games of the 2019 season.
On Oct. 19, Kwesi Loney’s side was set up for a rematch against the Ryerson University Rams, the only team to beat Carleton this season. This time, the team got revenge with a hard fought 1-0 win.
The rivalry between the two teams is what helped create quite a show for the fans at MNP Park, according to Loney.
“We’re a bit of a rival, we’re going back and forth the last two, three seasons now. I mean it’s a healthy one, they beat us, we beat them, and I think that’s always good from a competition perspective,” said Loney.
“When you have two of the top teams in the OUA coming together, nationally ranked teams, you’re always going to have a little bit of fireworks in those games.”
From the start, Ryerson started pressing and used their speed to challenge the Ravens defence. Carleton sat back deep in their own territory on defence, with Gabriel Bitar and Stefan Karajovanovic, lurking further forwards in case of any goal-scoring opportunities.
However, the first goal came from midfielder Quinn Honeyman-Wootton, who scored his first of the season in the 7th minute, which was “great timing,” according to Loney.
The goal seemed to buoy the Ravens, who were able to control more possession. Chances were coming in from all areas.
Dario Conte, Ricky Comba and Karajovanovic all had their own opportunities, but none could put the ball in the back of the net.
At halftime, the Ravens maintained their slim 1-0 lead.
However, the Ravens continued to be persistent, not letting any call, tackle or missed chance get to their heads.
Comba and Karajovanovic again looked to double the lead, but the next action came at the opposite end of the pitch where goalkeeper Nick Jeffs made a desperate save from Ryerson’s only shot on goal. He also paid the price for it after being knocked in the head and required treatment on the pitch.
The Rams then went on to step it up in the last few minutes of injury time, hoping to find the tying goal but they couldn’t crack through.
At the sound of the final whistle, the Ravens secured their victory as well as the top spot in the OUA East Division.
Loney said he was happy with the way his team rose to the challenge.
“I was happy about the result, and I was just happy about how we came out and performed today. Last time we played these guys we didn’t come out and show our true qualities so today we came out,” he said.
“I think we just showed our ability today to compete with the best teams in the OUA.”
In the team’s next match on Oct. 20, they welcomed the Trent University Excalibur to the pitch for their last game of the season and pulled out a convincing 6-0 win with an adjusted squad.
The starting 11that stepped onto the pitch was an adjusted one from Carleton, bringing in second-string players instead of the usual starters. However, that didn’t mean Carleton was not going to play some of their best football against Trent.
The hosts played a very accurate and systematic game against the Excalibur, converting three out of three shots in the first-half.
Dante Cobisa scored the first goal nine minutes in after a pin-point pass from Conte, and Bitar added two more in the 19th and 35th minutes.
However, the Ravens still had to work against a persistent Trent side and forced a total of 16 fouls on their opponents throughout the game. Fortunately enough for Carleton, the Excalibur were unable to have any shots on target.
The Ravens were eventually able to add three more goals to the scoreboard, with Bitar completing his hat trick and rare goals for Junior Asare and Jeremy Aweya.
The 6-0 scoreline remained until the end.
Despite the adjusted lineup, having Bitar (who’s had a quiet season this year) back in form close to the playoffs is a positive for the team, according to Loney.
“He’s had a long go this season. To get three goals I think is a statement. Hopefully he just takes it as a positive now… we’re hopefully to get him going,” he said.
Looking ahead to the playoffs, the team is unsure who exactly they will be playing in the playoffs but are continuing to work on themselves rather than fixate on their possible opponents.
“It’s just a matter of now just preparing, getting ourselves sharp,” said Loney. “We try to focus a lot more on what we do and how we can try to just tighten up what we do defensively [and] offensively.”
Carleton will play their first playoff match on Oct. 27 at MNP Park after receiving the bye.
Feature image and files from Tim Austen.
