After scoring five straight goals in the third period, the Carleton Ravens men’s hockey team staged a wild comeback in a 7-5 win Nov. 12 over the Nipissing Lakers at the Ice House.

The Ravens also captured a 3-2 overtime win against the Royal Military College Paladins on Remembrance Day in Kingston, Ont., resulting in a second straight perfect weekend for the team.

The Lakers had only one loss prior to their matchup with the Ravens, and are currently fourth place overall in the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) East division.

Fourth-year centre Joey Manley scored two goals for the Ravens in the first two periods of play against Nipissing — one of them while the Ravens were a man short. However, the Ravens looked completely lost in the second frame, allowing several bad turnovers and poor goals.

For one Nipissing goal in the second, a Lakers player was standing alone in front of the Ravens’ net. There wasn’t a Ravens player within at least six feet of the action, allowing the Lakers forward to shoot it past Ravens goaltender Matt Dopud with ease.

“They work hard, and they pushed back,” said Ravens captain Brandon MacLean. “There’s two teams out there, two good hockey teams playing a game and we withstood a little bit of a storm they brought at us.”

“I think that we gave them a lot of good chances based on turnovers and soft plays,” said Ravens head coach Marty Johnston. “The guys on the bench saw that, and were saying all the right things, and we turned it around in the third.”

And turn it around they did. MacLean scored twice in just over 70 seconds for the Ravens, tying the game at 4.

From there, the Ravens didn’t look back, with second-year forward Linden Bahm scoring the game winner. Andrew Self added another, and Jeff Hayes showed off some unbelievable puck handling skills on a breakaway for added insurance.

“In the third, we showed some character and a lot of heart,” MacLean said. “And that’s what you like to see from a group of guys who really came together in the third.”

The Lakers added a meaningless goal in the final minute to finish the game.

The Ravens offense clearly frustrated a Nipissing team that’s not used to losing, and some crushing hits from both teams added to the tension.

“We’ve been in those situations before,” MacLean said. “If you take a look at the penalty chart, we’re quite up there.”

Tensions boiled over when an irritated Lakers goaltender Daniel Spence laid a hit on a Ravens attacker.

“They were probably a little bit frustrated,” Johnston said. “They’ve been on quite a run and it didn’t go their way tonight.”

“We don’t back down from anything and we stick up for each other,” MacLean said.

The Ravens, who now sit third in the OUA East, will hit the ice again Nov. 18 in Kingston, Ont. against the Queen’s Gaels.