The Carleton Ravens men’s soccer team kicked off their 2011 season on the right foot, winning their first two games Aug. 4-5.
The Ravens stymied the Ryerson University Rams by a score of 2-1 Aug. 4, avenging their season-ending loss to the Rams in last year’s quarter-finals.
Rookies Andrew Latty and Michael Calof scored for the Ravens, while Viktor Anastasov scored for Ryerson in a losing cause.
“All the rookies came in and did really well, so we’re really coming together as a team,” said third-year Ravens midfielder Joey Kewin. “I think that’s part of the reason why we did so well this weekend.”
Carleton followed up that victory with another strong effort, outlasting the University of Toronto Varsity Blues in a high-scoring 3-2 affair Aug. 5.
“Hats go off to [U of T], they are one of the stronger teams in our league,” assistant coach Kwesi Loney said. “Keeping them off the scoresheet is always a tough feat, but the two goals they scored were quality shots on target.”
Fortunately for Carleton’s offence, they had one more quality shot on target, which made the difference. The scoring was led by striker Caki Simrooglu, who tallied twice for the Ravens, including his first goal only three minutes into the match.
“He has that ability around the goal just to score, he has that scoring touch. His work ethic was extremely high in this game,” said Loney. “The combination of those two aspects of his game allows him to perform very well.”
Simrooglu’s second goal of the match came in the 53rd minute, to stretch the team’s lead to two. Toronto was quick to respond, but couldn’t score the equalizer.
Sam McHugh scored the game-winning goal for Carleton, while Toronto saw its offence go through midfielder Darragh McGee and striker Jermaine Burrell, who each scored a goal for the Varsity Blues.
“In the first two games of the season, it’s just key to come together as a unit, [understand] each other’s mannerisms, [get] along on the pitch, work for one another, and just build that team mentality.”
“It should only get better,” Loney continued. “As they get stronger, the team should get stronger with their relationships as well.”
Kewin, too, was optimistic about the team’s chances this season.
“We just played our two toughest games, and if we keep going this way we should be able to match what we did last year,” said Kewin.
The Ravens began last season with an eight-game undefeated stretch, en route to a second-place finish in the Ontario University Athletics East division.