The Carleton Ravens men’s hockey team struggled to generate offence on Saturday night, falling 5-1 to the UQTR Patriotes at the Ice House.
The loss came just a week after Carleton delivered one of their wildest performances of the season with a five-goal, third-period comeback at the Kingston Constantine Arena against RMC. Nick McCarry led the charge with two goals and two assists, sparking the comeback before the Ravens’ power play erupted for four straight goals.
That performance gave the Ravens confidence heading into their homestead, but facing UQTR proved to be a tough battle.
UQTR set the tone early as the visiting team controlled the first period, pinning Carleton in their own zone and limiting them to just two shots. The Ravens spent most of the frame clearing the puck without generating any real plays, as their breakout attempts were shut down over and over.
UQTR eventually broke through just past the midway mark of the first, when a point shot from Charles Beaudoin found its way past Ravens starter Tye Austin, giving the visitors a 1-0 lead.
Tensions reached a boiling point late in the period as scrums broke out around the net, an early indicator of UQTR’s suffocating pace.
The Ravens hoped to regroup in the second but instead watched as the deficit grew. Charles-Antoine Pilote added to UQTR’s lead with a shot from the top of the circle, and shortly after, sustained pressure in the Carleton zone gave way to Beaudoin’s second goal of the night, putting UQTR up 3-0.
The game took another turn when Austin left with what appeared to be an arm injury, forcing Ravens backup Dylan Meilun into action. Through forty minutes, Carleton had managed just five shots while UQTR had 22.
“UQTR is a very strong team, they don’t give you very much, nothing at all,” Ravens head coach Mark Cavallin said after the game.
“Everything that we did get was really, really tough to get.”
The third period brought a spark of offence from the Ravens, who nearly doubled their shot total, spent more time in the offensive zone and forced UQTR to defend deeper.
“We were also frustrated, there weren’t a lot of opportunities for us in the first two periods,” Cavallin said. “We tried a few different things in the third, and it turned around a little.”
Despite the Ravens’ increased pressure, UQTR remained on the attack. Two third-period goals from Thomas Auger extended their lead to 5-0.
Carleton finally broke the shutout when defenceman Braeden Virtue jumped into the rush and redirected a pass from Peter Amanatidis.
Ravens forward Alex Johnston, who scored last week’s game-winner against RMC, said Carleton is still feeling the positive effects of that comeback even amid Saturday’s tough loss.
“It builds confidence going into games, for sure,” Johnston said. “Tonight didn’t go in our favour, but it gets the momentum going. It was a tough game, they’re a really fast team, and they came at us hard.”
Johnston added the group is trying not to dwell on the loss.
Forward Nick McCarry, who had four points in last week’s win for the Ravens, said the team never found the spark they needed.
“I didn’t think we were quite there with energy,” McCarry said. “We’ve just got to bounce back tomorrow.”
Carleton now turns their attention to the Nipissing Lakers on Sunday, a team Cavallin described as unpredictable and dangerous.
“We have to stick to more structure and more possession,” said Cavallin. “It’ll be a different look than tonight.”
Featured image by Robin Kasem/Carleton Ravens
