The Ravens men’s hockey team started off its 2014-15 season with a third-period win over the Concordia Stingers 3-2 on Oct. 3.
The Ravens are coming off a season that saw them finish third in the Ontario University Athletics conference.
They earned a birth to the Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) national championships in Saskatoon, eventually coming up short to the University of Alberta Golden Bears, who went on to win gold.
Carleton came into the game ranked seventh in the CIS, whereas Concordia was not ranked.
Nonetheless, the Stingers came out firing, trying to prove to the powerhouse Ravens that they would not be intimidated by their success from seasons past.
They were able to match the Ravens play-for-play in the first period, resulting in a goalless draw at the end of the first frame.
After the intermission, the Stingers came out strong and scored in the first minute of play, silencing the home crowd. The visitors were not done there as Stingers forward Scott Oke scored in the fourth minute of the period to put them up by a score of 2-0.
“We were expecting a bit of a slow start,” fifth-year forward Joe Pleckaitis said. “It’s the first game and we just had to get the nerves out.”
The second Stingers goal seemed to shake the home team into gear, as 30 seconds later they were able to cut the lead to one after a goal from second-year forward Michael McNamee, who led the team in goals scored in the 2013-14 season.
The Ravens tied the game at two apiece halfway through the period on a goal from fifth-year forward Jeff Hayes.
The second half of the period saw a tight back-and-forth struggle, but the goal tally would stay at 2-2 for the second frame of action.
The Ravens came out aggressively in the third period of play looking to build on their momentum from the second.
Their forecheck paid off as the veteran Pleckaitis was able to put his team ahead just two minutes into the period to complete the comeback for the jubilant Ravens fans in attendance.
After the game, Pleckaitis said it was a great team win, and the ability to come back came down to their preparation beforehand.
“We had a great three weeks of training camp together and now we just have to work on staying mentally focused,” he said. “Now we just have to look forward to the next game and get a good week of practice in.”
The Ravens’ next game is Oct. 8 against the Royal Military College Paladins before they head off to Quebec for the rematch against the Stingers and a battle with bitter rivals, the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, over Thanksgiving weekend.
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