The Carleton Ravens opened up their first two games of 2018 with a win and a loss. The Ravens beat the Royal Military College (RMC) Paladins 4-2 on Jan. 5, and then fell 3-2 to the McGill Redmen the following day.
Against RMC, Carleton found the back of the net early, just three minutes in, as Ravens forward Dalen Hedges put the puck past Paladins goaltender Daniel Vautour. Along with the goal, the Ravens’ new addition, C.J. Garcia, picked up his first assist as a Raven.
Eleven minutes later, Ravens forward Travis Douglas directed the puck into the back of the net with an assist from Hedges to put the Ravens up by two.
The Paladins would eventually get on the board, when just three minutes before the end of the period, Paladins forward Riley Brandt fired the puck past Ravens goaltender Matthew Jenkins to cut the Ravens lead in half.
Four minutes into the second period, Hedges passed the puck to Ravens forward Evan De Haan, regaining Carleton’s two goal lead.
Despite being outshot 15-9 by the Paladins throughout the second period, Carleton maintained its lead heading into the third period.
Eleven minutes into the final period, Brandt got his second goal of the game cutting the Ravens lead to 3-2.
Five minutes later, Ravens forward Alexandre Boivin fired the puck past Vautour to bring the game to 4-2 and secure the Ravens their first win of 2018.
“[Garcia’s] been a welcome addition, he’s strong, good skater, real good shot, you know, we were lucky to get him and we’re really happy to have him,” head coach Shaun Van Allen said about the new addition of Garcia, who joins the team after playing seven games in the East Coast Hockey League (ECHL) this season.
On Jan. 6 against the Redmen, the Ravens quickly got on the board, as just one minute into the opening period, Ravens defenseman Josh Burnside fired a wrist shot past Redmen goaltender Louis Philip Guindon.
This would be the only goal of the first period, as both teams traded chances but were unable to convert them into goals.
Three minutes into the second period, Redmen forward Cristopher Lalonde pounced on the rebound off a faceoff, and sent it flying into the net past Ravens goaltender Francois Brassard to tie the game.
Four minutes later, on a power play, McGill defenseman Dominic Talbot-Tassi fired the puck past Brassard to give the Redmen a 2-1 lead. The Redmen then further extended their lead to 3-1 with a wrist shot over Brassard’s blocker.
Seconds before the end of the second period, Ravens forward Brett Welychka made it a one goal game when he sent the puck five-hole through Guindon’s legs to put the score up to 3-2.
The third period saw no goals as the Ravens continued firing shots on net, but nothing materialized as the Redmen’s defence kept Carleton’s offence at bay.
“I thought they played hard. You know, we were physical tonight, that’s what we wanted to be against those guys and I can’t fault anyone’s effort in there. I thought we competed right to the final buzzer. We’d like a different result but I’m really happy with their effort,” Van Allen said.
The Ravens play their next games on Jan. 12 and 13, as they travel to Laurentian and Nipissing to take on the Voyageurs and the Lakers.
Photo by Cameron Penney
