As the bus rolled out of the Athletics building parking lot, music was already booming through the speakers as members of the men’s soccer team energized each other for their third consecutive U Sports Men’s Soccer National Championships.
On Nov. 5, the group of 25 players and eight staff members ventured out to Montreal, after a warm send off from family, friends and Carleton staff.
After winning the bronze medal at the 2018 nationals, the only thing on the team’s mind was pushing a step further and reaching for gold.
The Ravens finished the regular season with a 13-1 record, captured their first Ontario University Athletics (OUA) Division title since 2005, had six players named as OUA All Stars, two on the All-Canadian All Star list and head coach Kwesi Loney was named U Sports Men’s Coach of the Year.
However, even though they were ranked number one, the team didn’t make it to the final. They came fourth, missing out on any medals.
When they arrived at the Montreal Marriott Chateau Champlain, goalkeeping coach Karl Wasslen handed out room keys and the players were encouraged to “burn off some of the excitement,” according to Loney.
But the schedule the next morning was strict. A 6 a.m. wake up call was followed by a team breakfast 30 minutes later and the players arrived to indulge in a full buffet spread.
The team’s schedule for the week was full of events, team meetings, dinners, practices, therapy with athletic therapist Nadine Smith and multiple ‘activations,’ hour long muscle warming sessions packed with heavily competitive games led by strength and conditioning coach, James Clock.
To kick off the tournament, the Ravens headed to CEPSUM Stadium for the awards banquet. Dario Conte and Gabriel Bitar were named as first and second team All-Canadians and Loney was given his award, the first one for Carleton since Sandy Mackie in 2005.
“It’s not an award that I require. For me I look at it as an award that recognizes my team, because nobody gets to see what we do every day, day in and day out,” said Loney.
“They get to see the end product so it’s great to see that the team is being recognized for being able to breathe life into our ideas and our philosophy in our game.”
During practice, the team operates like a well oiled machine. Defender Cristopher Malekos says it’s easy to get into the groove.
“Usually you get it in 10, 15 minutes, obviously the more you play the better you get at it,” said Malekos. “We do a lot of the same drills we’ve been doing the last three years, always changing the lot of it but they’re not the most complicated drills anyways. The hardest thing to remember are these passing patterns … but after a while [you get it].”
With only one training session for the whole week, most of the team’s preparation came during the team meetings, where Loney and game analyst Kyle McHenry take an intricate look at their opposition and discuss the physiological aspects of the match.
Every one of the athletes sits focused, dead silent, looking straight ahead with the utmost intent (another silent form of respect for the coaching staff), and no one dares to be late. The silence in the room is deafening.
“Just his philosophy, the way he talks and everything. He’s one of the best coaches I’ve had, he knows how to talk to his players and everyone around him, coaching staff,” said forward Stefan Karajovanovic.
Another crucial aspect of the team’s strict routine is keeping in check any injuries with Smith and monitoring nutrients and food consumption from Clock. Both put all their time and energy into keeping every athlete in shape. Remembering each individual tape job is like remembering a name, said Smith.
Making sure the food options are healthy, have enough variety and follow various allergy or dietary restrictions, like veganism for defender Tareq Hamad, requires a lot of focus and preparation to ensure the team can perform their best.
According to Smith, the team budgets around $50 a game for groceries for things like bananas, apples and cartons upon cartons of chocolate milk which players fight over. Powerade is also a massive hit in the locker room as a pre and post-game electrolyte booster. Clock makes sure to never let the team drink their opponent’s colours – a personal superstition.
Before the first game against St. Francis Xavier University X-Men in the quarter-finals on Nov. 7, the speaker was back in the change room.
“They’re pretty calm, but hyped up,” said Smith. “I’m sure there’s a little bit of nerves but they don’t look like they’re about to throw up, you know? So, I feel like they’re relaxed.” Clock added the team just wants to play, especially after winning the OUA title.
With their classic starting lineup, the Ravens hit the pitch knowing a loss in the first game would jeopardize everything. The pitch was covered in snow, making playing conditions beyond difficult.
It was a struggle, but goals from Karajovanovic and Gabriel Bitar secured a 2-0 victory. Returning to the dressing room downstairs, the speaker cranked out Fisher’s big club hit, “Losing It.”
“Remember,” said midfielder Ricky Comba clapping his hands and yelling out to his teammates. “We go again tomorrow.”
Outside the stadium, a swarm of local children asked for pictures and autographs from the team. The Ravens happily obliged with smiles.
In the next meeting, Loney and McHenry, reviewed the first performance and took the time to discuss tactics for the next game against Université du Québec à Trois Rivières Patriotes, a side who they’d never played before.
Loney asked his team to increase their intensity moving forward, emphasizing this was the time to show their experience and hard work from the regular season. The team would have to handle the intense pressure about to come in the next few days, he added.
At 6:30 a.m. sharp, the team headed down to the breakfast buffet before the semifinal. The vibe was a mixed scene of nerves and focus. Goalkeeper Nick Jeffs, was clear-headed.
“My job never changes regardless of the opponent, maybe just slight things I need to look out for. I just feel anxious, I just wanna get out there already,” said Jeffs. “Just from the vibe I’ve been getting all morning I think everyone’s focused and we have a job to do today.”
Despite their best efforts, the team couldn’t have prepared for the challenges ahead. Their bus broke down, resulting in them borrowing a visiting team’s bus, the ball during the match was swapped without consultation from the team and rookie Danny Assaf was shown a red card, resulting in the team being down a man and contributing to their 0-1 loss.
On the sidelines of the pitch, Loney and his coaching staff expressed major concerns when the ball was changed during the middle of the match.
“I’ve never seen anything like that happen. They changed it back because we argued over it at halftime. The quality of the ball was not at the level of the match. It wasn’t a U Sports branded ball, they didn’t discuss it with us, they didn’t ask us about it, they just did it,” said Loney.
“I just feel like those things like that should never happen, not at this level,” he added.
The group of teary-eyed, heartbroken Ravens travelled to their locker room in silence before listening to Loney and travelling Carleton alumni speak about their performance, noting the program is becoming a dynasty which takes time to form.
You could hear sniffles outside the entrance while players kicked boxes and lashed out at doors. The echoing of “O Canada” from the second semifinal of the night lingered in the hallway, a cruel reminder that for two teams, their shot at playing in the final was still alive.
It took the team over an hour and a half to finally leave the dressing room and while players slowly came out, Loney sat by himself in silence, with the reality that his team fell short of expectations starting to sink in.
Back on the bus, everyone was silent. No rapping, no dancing. Not one person stuck around in the lobby, everyone pushed into the elevator to go straight to their rooms.
But, as the sun rose on Nov. 9, it was a new day for the Ravens and again, like clockwork, they all met in the dining hall for their morning team breakfast, some, mainly the coaching staff, still running play-by-plays over how the game unfolded.
Saturday consisted of a light schedule, with only one activation session and an early dinner event put on by Carleton.
There were encouraging words from all corners. The only thing standing in their way was the Cape Breton University Capers, the team who knocked them out last year.
The next morning, the vibe on the bus and in the locker room was a serious one. Players were getting ready slowly and almost lounging around, knowing this was the be-all end-all for their season. Noticing the team was on edge, Loney took it upon himself to relieve some pressure.
However, the Ravens were unable to get revenge on the Capers and despite going up 1-0 in the first half through Karajovanovic’s penalty, they were coming back to Ottawa empty handed and brokenhearted.
There were no tears this time from the team, just an overall feeling of frustration and anger. Loney made sure to let all the players know the emotions they were feeling at that particular moment were going to make huge differences in their hunger and drive as athletes.
Pulling back into the Athletics building parking lot in Ottawa, the same songs play on repeat, and the team is rapping and dancing with smiles on their faces and their heads held high.
In the last talk of the week, Loney emphasized how impressed he was with his team’s season, his gratitude for all his staff and that he was “extremely proud” of what the Ravens accomplished both on and off the field, medal or no medal.
“That’s why I coach, that’s why I love my players, that’s why I love my athletes,” said Loney.
Images by Emily Wilson.
