The champs celebrated their win in Montreal (Photo: Gerrit De Vynck)
The Carleton men’s ultimate team couldn’t be stopped last weekend as they battled their way through 11 games to finish first at the Canadian University Ultimate Championships (CUUC) Oct 16-18.
“It’s phenomenal,” said team veteran Brent Gerhart. “It took five to 10 minutes to sink in that we’re national champions.”
The team defeated the University of Western Ontario Sharks 15-11 in the final match Oct. 18 to claim the national title.
“It was great,” said rookie Tobiah Abrahamsson. “I can’t stop smiling.”
The Ravens blazed through their first six games, beating every team in their path with scores such as 13-0 against Queen’s University B and 13-1 against University of Toronto B.
“We were completely determined,” said fourth-year co-captain Ryan Bauer. “It’s been our goal since the beginning of the season and we wouldn’t accept anything else.”
Bauer played the final game with a fractured bone in his hand after being kicked by a University of Waterloo player.
“You got to do what you got to do to win,” Bauer said.
However, the tournament took a nasty twist when the Ravens lost their last game of pool play against the Sharks.
“Ultimate is 30 per cent physical and 70 per cent mental,” said fourth-year co-captain Bryce Ring.
He said the team was a little high-strung going into that game because the Sharks were the Eastern Champions and therefore the Ravens didn’t play well as a team.
“There were a lot of mental mistakes in that game,” Gerhart said. “We were up 4-1 but it all fell apart and we lost 7-14.”
It was time to break the choke-artist reputation. In the first game of the championship round Oct. 18, the Ravens defeated the Dalhousie University Tigers 12-7.
They continued to battle throughout the day, beating Queen’s 13-12 in the semi-finals. This put them through to the CUUC finals against the Sharks.
“Every play was a huge play and every point was an important point,” Bauer said.
However, the athleticism and skill of the Carleton team finally broke the Sharks and allowed the Ravens to call themselves national champs with a four-point victory.
Ring said none of this would have been possible if it wasn’t for some talented veterans like Kielan Way.
“Way played his heart out and led the team in pure skill and determination,” Ring said. “He played amazing defence.”
Way plays on the Canadian national team and is one of the top players in the country. However, everyone agreed that it wouldn’t have been possible without the hard work and determination of every player on the team.
“We’ve become really close over the years,” Bauer said. “The hard work we put in just made it so worthwhile.”