The Carleton Ravens men’s hockey team ended their pre-season on a positive note, winning their final exhibition game before the beginning of the 2011-2012 campaign.

The Ravens trounced the St. Lawrence University Saints, a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I team Oct. 2 in Canton, N.Y. by a score of 5-2.

“Those guys down there are very gritty players. They skate and work very hard,” said Ravens captain Brandon MacLean. “It’s a little different, but it’s not too much different once you get into your game plan.”

Carleton’s goal-scoring was very spread out amongst the team, with second-year defenceman Brad Albert and second-year forward Joe Pleckaitis tallying for the Ravens, as well as fourth-year forwards MacLean, Ryan Berard and Joey Manley.

“We were good in the first, good in the second, and had our best period [of the weekend] in the third,” MacLean said.

Third-year goaltender Ryan Dube made 22 saves for the Ravens, who held a 3-0 lead midway through the game.

Pleckaitis was very complimentary of Carleton’s netminding.

“They’re going to help us win some games when we need them a lot,” he added.

The Saints, meanwhile, received their offence from second-year forward Nic Vangog and rookie forward Gunnar Hughes.  The goaltending trio of Matt Weninger, Joe Spadaccini and Robby Moss made four, five and five saves respectively for the downed Saints.

In order to get a better feel for the team’s depth, St. Lawrence decided to sit out captains Jake Drewiske and Kyle Flanagan, as well as assistant captain George Hughes and last year’s 23-goal scorer Greg Carey.

Despite the obvious holes in their opponent’s lineup, MacLean said the Ravens weren’t focused on the St. Lawrence roster.

“We just went in there and tried to work on our own game,” he said. “I don’t think too many guys looked into who they had on their roster.”
“We had a game plan going in to really take the body on those guys, shoot the puck and use our speed and transition game,” Pleckaitis said.

Earlier in the weekend, Ravens second-year goaltender Matthew Dopud stopped two breakaways in overtime en route to 25-save performance Oct. 1, as Carleton’s three-goal, third period rally earned them a 3-3 draw against their other NCAA Division I competition, the Colgate University Raiders.

“He’s an outstanding goalie, carrying over from last year,” Pleckaitis said about Dopud’s performance. “I think he’s also going to have a really solid season.”

Pleckaitis scored the first Ravens goal of the game in the third period, and second-year forward Jeff Hayes added a pair only a minute and a half apart.

“We were down 3-0 going into the third, and we all stuck together, played as a team, and I think that’ll help us a lot going into the regular season this year,” Pleckaitis said. “I think we had a pretty good character game . . . versus Colgate.”

The Raiders’ offence came from second-year forward Chris Wagner, first-year defenceman Spiro Goulakos and third-year forward Billy Rivellini, who all netted a goal in the tie.

Second-year goaltender Eric Mihalik made 28 saves in the draw.

The Ravens end their pre-season with a record of 1-2-1, having dropped games at the hands of the University of Prince Edward Island Panthers and the Nipissing University Lakers.

“Going into the regular season, you just want to keep getting better and keep playing some pretty good hockey,” MacLean said.