The Carleton Ravens men’s hockey team won their first game of their first round Ontario University Athletics (OUA) playoff series against the Nipissing Lakers on Feb. 17 at the North Bay Memorial Gardens by a score of 3-0.
“I think the first period we started off really well—all four lines were skating and the defence did a good job moving the puck,” said Ravens head coach Marty Johnston. “I think obviously in the second and third, our penalty kill did a good job killing those penalties off.”
“Obviously it got a little bit chippy and there seemed to be a lot of slashing and whacking out there, but our guys persevered and we’ll head home and regroup and get ready for game two,” he said.
Carleton controlled the majority of the play through the first period. The Ravens outshot the Lakers 16-3 while maintaining plenty of offensive pressure.
Brett Welychka opened the scoring with his first career OUA post-season goal midway through the first period on the power play.
In the second frame, Nipissing began to take control of the play. The Ravens were outshot 15-6 but found themselves up by two when Corey Durocher sent a laser into the back of the net immediately after a face-off win from Brent Norris.
In the third period, frustration began to brew as the game slipped away from the Lakers.
“We just focused on ourselves and didn’t let any of the other team or the refs get in our head,” said Norris. “A couple calls we wanted the other way but we stayed together as a team, and all the guys pushed in the same direction and we were able to get the win.”
Norris scored a highlight reel goal later in the period as he roofed the puck over the shoulder of Lakers goaltender Domenic Graham while on his knees.
“I guess I got lucky a little,” he said of the goal. “The guy turned it over and I guess I had time to get up on my knees, but I figured I’d catch him off guard a little and I was able to do that.”
