The Carleton Ravens men’s hockey team was firing on all cylinders over the weekend of Nov. 7-8.
Back-to-back wins against the Queen’s Golden Gaels and University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT) Ridgebacks have improved their regular season record to 8-2.
The Ravens’ six-game winning streak has given them a share of first place in the Ontario University Athletics East division.
The Ravens began the weekend with a home game Nov. 7, taking on the Gaels at the Ice House. They won the tight defensive battle by a score of 1-0.
Coach Marty Johnston said he was pleased with his team’s effort in the game, despite coming up with no goals in the first two periods.
“I thought we stuck with it,” Johnston said. “We didn’t give Queen’s many opportunities to score. Obviously we’d like to be a little more productive offensively and cleaner in our breakouts, but guys defended real well.”
The only goal of the game came from the Ravens’ 24th shot on Gaels goaltender Kevin Bailie, as Michael McNamee deposited his sixth goal of the season on a fluke play.
“It was just a little zone entry through the middle,” he said. “Damian Cross fed it through and I actually saw Joe Pleckaitis on the backdoor, so I tried to poke it across to him and it just went between the goalie’s legs and surprised him.”
McNamee said while the Ravens did manage to break the shutout bid of Bailie, there was no shortage of tense moments leading up to the goal.
“It was getting a little frustrating,” he said. “We were outshooting them by a bit and we had our chances. It just seemed that we had trouble burying them. Lucky goals like that don’t happen often, but when they do they’re nice.”
At the other end of the ice, Carleton goaltender Patrick Killeen only saw 21 shots all game, for which Johnston credited his skaters’ efforts.
“Team defense is important and I thought our forwards did a real good job of that,” he said. “We limited their chances off the rush and we have to continue to do that into our next game.”
Shortly thereafter, the Ravens traveled to Oshawa, Ont. for their second game in two days, this time against the Ridgebacks on the evening of Nov. 8.
If Carleton was concerned about lack of scoring against Queen’s, those worries flew out of the building quickly. The Ravens had no trouble out of the gate, putting four goals behind UOIT starter Colin Dzijacky.
Ravens captain Damian Cross led the charge with a hat-trick and an assist, while Mitch Zion has two goals of his own.
Carleton starter Francis Dupuis stopped 15 shots for the shutout victory, capping off a successful weekend for the Ravens.
The wins place the Ravens in a tie with the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières (UQTR) for top spot in the OUA East. UQTR, with its 9-1 record, is slighty ahead of Carleton in the standings.
The Ravens will remain on the road, as they visit the Brock Badgers on Nov. 14 and then the York Lions on Nov. 15.
The Ravens’ grudge match with UQTR for what might be for sole possession of first place will come on Nov. 28 at the Ice House.
