The Carleton Ravens men’s hockey team have lived to see another day.

The Ravens forced a third and deciding game in their Ontario University Athletics (OUA) East quarterfinal series after defeating the University of Toronto Varsity Blues 7-3 Feb. 18 at the Ice House.

Carleton was hoping to rebound from their 2-1 loss to the Varsity Blues Feb. 16 in Toronto, and needed a victory to level the series and keep their season alive.

Ryan Berard opened the scoring for the Ravens early in the first period, capitalizing on a two-man advantage to earn his second goal in the series. Centre Joey Manley also got on the board for the Ravens, putting Carleton up 2-0 after 20 minutes.

After Manley scored his second of the night, two quick tallies from the Varsity Blues brought the Toronto outfit to within a goal of the Ravens. However, the momentum was quelled after the Ravens got a bit of luck, as an Andrew Self shot went off the skate of a Varsity Blues player and into the net.

The third period was dominated by the Ravens, with quick goals from Brandon MacLean and Jeff Hayes. The Ravens lead was cut in half, but a hat trick marker from Manley clinched the victory for Carleton.

Ravens head coach Marty Johnston said he was impressed with the way Manley stepped up his game.

“He came up with the big goals tonight,” Johnston said. “He was our top goalscorer in the regular season, and it shows.”

Manley wasn’t the only Raven who appeared multiple times on the scoresheet, as MacLean put in a five-point effort, with a goal and four assists. Johnston called MacLean his first star of the night.

“Our best players have to be our best players, and they certainly were tonight.”

For Manley, the forward said it was more about the team’s hard work, rather than his individual effort.

“We kept it simple,” he said. “We wanted to make sure we came out working hard, getting pucks to the net, crashing the net, and it seemed to work for us.”

Still, Manley was grinning from ear to ear after the game.

“I was pretty happy. It’s my first CIS hat trick,” Manley said. “It was a great pass by MacLean, he saw me backdoor, and it was pretty easy to put it in with the net wide open.”

Johnston said this was a much better Ravens team than the one that played Feb. 16.

“We have got back to the basics,” said the coach. “We were getting pucks to the net and simplifying our game. When you look at our lineup, a lot of people think we have a lot of skilled guys, and we showed it tonight.”

Ravens goaltender Matthew Dopud had another strong performance in net, stopping 31 shots en route to the victory.

But Dopud was quick to give his team praise.

“We came out strong as a team, much better than we did during the last game against U of T,” said the rookie, who is playing in his first Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) playoff series. “It helps me, it helps the defence, it helps everyone. Everybody knew what was on the line, so it was a good game for everyone.”

Game two at the Ice House was noticeably more physical than game one in Toronto. Referees handed out 94 penalty minutes Feb. 18, compared to the paltry 12 minutes doled out in the series-opener.

Johnston said the Varsity Blues should expect to see more of this grittiness in the third and final game of the series Feb. 19.

“It’s playoff hockey,” Johnston said. “When we played in Toronto, it was too nice of a game. I don’t know if they necessarily like that style of play, but that’s the way it’s going to be.”

Dopud also likes his team’s chances, issuing a warning to his opponents after Carleton’s victory.


“We’ve got a really good chance,” Dopud said. “I think they’re scared right now. We came out firing, and you could just tell after the first scrum in front of the net tonight — they want nothing to do with us.”

The Ravens and the Varsity Blues play the final game of their first-round series tonight at the Ice House. Puck drop is set for 7:00 p.m.

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Matt Di Nicolantonio takes a closer look at Carleton's big win in the Charlatan Sports Blog.