For the second year in a row, the Carleton Ravens men’s hockey team has been eliminated from the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) Queen’s Cup quarterfinals.
On Feb. 18, the Carleton Ravens lost 4-2 to the University of Ottawa (U of O) Gee-Gees in Game 3 of the quarterfinal series.
The two teams were evenly matched headed into the playoffs, with Carleton sitting at a 17-7-4 record in fourth place and the U of O sitting at a 16-8-4 record in fifth place. Carleton was able to start the series off with a 3-2 overtime win in Game 1, but the U of O came back strong with a 5-0 win in Game 2. With the series tied at one, this game was do-or-die for both teams.
Late in the opening period, Gee-Gees forward Kevin Domingue fired a wrist shot into the back of the net to open the scoring and give the U of O a 1-0 lead heading into the second period.
While on a power play in the opening minutes of the second, Gee-Gees forward Brendan Jacome skated around the Ravens defence and sent the puck sailing into the back of the net to give the Gee-Gees a 2-0 lead.
Carleton would answer back with a powerplay goal of their own three minutes later, when Ravens forward Alexandre Boivin tipped the puck past Anthony Brodeur to make it a one goal game.
The U of O then added to their lead when the Gee-Gees went in on a three-on-one and Gee-Gees forward Cody Drover sent a wrist shot up and over Francois Brassard to make it a 3-1 game heading into the final period of play.
The final period opened on a Gee-Gees power play, and Drover scored his second of the game one minute into the third to extend the Gee-Gees lead to 4-1.
Carleton answered back with a goal of their own seconds later, as Ravens forward Dalen Hedges redirected the puck past Brodeur and into the net, cutting the Gee-Gees lead in half.
Despite Carleton outshooting the U of O 40-26, the Gee-Gees managed to hold on to their lead and move on to the semi-finals.
“I thought we played really hard, in the third we really started getting more pucks at the net, had some more chances. They capitalized on a few of our mistakes and they’re a good team. If you look at the regular season we had 17 wins they had 16, you knew it was gonna be close from the beginning and that’s why it ended up going three games,” said Ravens head coach Shaun Van Allen.
With the U of O win, the Gee-Gees are now set to face the McGill Redmen on Feb. 21, in Game 1 of the semi-finals.
The Ravens entered the series missing their captain Brett Welychka who was injured in the Ravens last regular season game.
“He’s a good player but he didn’t play, nothing we could do. We dressed the best lineup we could, you know, they had guys out too, no excuses there, they just beat us,” Van Allen said.
The series was hard fought by both teams and the game’s physical tone gave the fans something to cheer about no matter the outcome.
“We were down 4-1, some teams would have just rolled over, we didn’t roll over, we came back and we pushed hard,” Van Allen said.
The Ravens now look towards the off-season. With large changes coming Carleton will be looking for a strong recruiting class.
David Weckworth, Fabian Walsh, Derek Brown, Ryan Van Stralen, Conor McLaren, Brett Welychka, Curtis Meighan, Tyler Akeson, and Matthew Jenkins, are the nine players who will be hanging up their Ravens jerseys this year, leaving a massive hole that the team will have to fill.
The team’s coaching situation is also in flux with Van Allen having only been brought on as the interim head coach.
Photo by Dan Robertson
