With a 5-1 victory over the Royal Military College (RMC) Paladins Feb. 2, the Carleton Ravens men’s hockey team are guaranteed at least a second-place Ontario University Athletics (OUA) East finish.
This is the highest the men’s hockey team has finished in the team’s history.
Despite RMC having been in last place for the greater part of the season, their improvement and fight through 60 minutes of play has remained consistent.
“They came out physical, a lot more physical than we were expecting, especially with how they’re sitting in the standings right now,” co-captain Joey Manley said.
However, the Ravens took control of the game and brought it to their comfort level.
“We slowed things down, broke out of our zone effectively, and were able to get a lot of opportunities,” Manley said.
Manley, who had a goal and an assist on the night, was glad to see that the Ravens squadron was able to work on parts of their game that require some improvement come playoff time.
“Our power play was a step in the right direction,” he said. “We were only one for four, but we took a ton of shots which is what you want.”
The Ravens outshot the Paladins 50-28 during Saturday’s bout.
Manley commended the team for remaining in “good habits,” but knows the battle is only about to begin.
“We’ve found a way to compete without [Joe] Pleckatis and [Jordan] Deagle in our lineup, but now teams are going to be stepping up their game and we have to keep doing everything we’ve been doing all year and stay focused,” he said.
Fortunately for the Ravens, Deagle has resumed play and was in Saturday’s lineup, and head coach Marty Johnston said he thought Deagle “had a steady game.”
The Ravens have only two games remaining in their regular season play, but know that it will be tough to clinch first place in the OUA East division.
“When you look at who the [Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières] has to play in their last regular season games it’ll be tough to get by them, but we can only control how we play,” Manley said.
The Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières (UQTR) has Queen’s and RMC left in their regular season matchup, both of which are sitting in seventh and 10th place respectively in the OUA East division.
“Again, our special teams are going to be a big focus for this weekend’s two games,” Johnston said.
The Ravens, who host Nipissing and Ryerson in their last two regular season games, understand what the two teams are fighting for.
“Ryerson is a team that is in the hunt for a playoff position, and we know that Nipissing is riding on some momentum so we have to come out strong,” Johnston said.
The Ravens play their last two regular season games Feb. 8 and 9 at the Ice House.
