The Carleton Ravens men’s hockey team ended their preseason with back-to-back wins against the University of Windsor Lancers on Sept. 21 and Sept. 22 with scores of 4-1 and 7-1, respectively.
“For the most part, we were happy,” head coach Shaun Van Allen said about the opening match. There’s obviously things we can improve on. A few of our turnovers we’d like to clean up—we’d like to shoot the puck a little bit more; we’d like to work on our shift length too. Those are a few things,”
In the first game, forward Cody Caron striked early into the first period when he sent the puck up and over Lancers goaltender Paolo Battisti’s glove and into the net to give the Ravens a 1-0 lead.
Windsor tied the game up when forward Dan Beaudoin received a pass from teammate Alex Friesen and fired the puck past Ravens goaltender François Brassard, to head into the second period.
Caron regained Carleton’s lead in the second period, when he took a pass from forward Chiwetin Blacksmith and directed the puck past Battisti.
That would be the only goal of the second period, as Carleton led 2-1 going into the third period.
The Ravens extended their lead shortly into the final period of play, when forward Dakota Odgers’ shot deflected past the Lancers goalie and into the net.
Forward Hayden Hulton would then seal the win for the Ravens when he sent a slapshot sailing into the net to bring the final score to 4-1.
“We’ll take the win, and they work hard and they’re a big physical team and it’s a good test for us,” Van Allen said.
In their game on Sept. 22, the Ravens’ offence exploded as they defeated the Lancers 7-1 in their final game of the preseason.
Carleton struck early into the first period, when, five minutes in, forward Aaron Boyd received a pass from forward Dalen Hedges and tapped the puck into the net past Lancers goaltender Jonathan Reinhart.
Five minutes later, on a powerplay, Windsor tied up the game when defenseman Erik Olsen fired the puck past Ravens goaltender Justin Nichols and into the net.
The Ravens would retake the lead shortly before the end of the first period, when defenceman Matthew Sozanski fired the puck past Reinhart and into the net.
The onslaught of the Ravens offence continued early into the second period, as Hedges sent the puck past the Lancers’ goalie and into the net off a pass from forward Alexandre Boivin.
Boyd scored his second of the game when he took a pass from defenceman Andrew Jarvis and sent the puck past Reinhart and into the net.
The Ravens would soon add yet another goal when Hedges passed the puck to forward Adam Chapman who fired the puck up and over the Lancers goalie.
Soon after, Boyd scored his third goal of the game for his first Ontario University Athletics (OUA) hat trick to give the Ravens a comfortable 6-1 lead heading into the third period.
The Ravens’ final goal came in the third period on the power play when Boyd redirected defenceman Mike Constantine’s shot past Battisti into the net.
“I think with it being the last game of preseason, I just want to leave the best impression I can on the coaches to see where I fit in the lineup at the start of the regular season,” Boyd said about his night.
The Ravens will look to start their regular season off with a win when they get set to face off against the Concordia University Stingers on Oct. 6 at Ed Meagher Arena.
Photo by Lauren Hicks
