The Carleton Ravens men’s hockey team jumped to first spot in the OUA East Division with a 5-2 win over the McGill Redmen Jan. 4 and a 7-3 win over the Concordia Stingers Jan. 6.
“We know we are neck and neck with [Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières] right now so it’s nice to have that first-place title but we have to stay focused on our game,” said Ravens veteran forward Shane Bakker.
The Redmen held the Ravens scoreless after 40 minutes of play in their Jan. 4 matchup.
“In the back of my head I was thinking did we just run into another hot goalie?” Bakker said.
The Ravens posted 26 shots compared to McGill’s six shots after 40 minutes of play.
After the team regrouped and refocused in the second intermission, the men came back to notch five goals in just 20 minutes of play. Jeff Hayes tallied his second hat-trick of the season.
“My job is to put up points and help the team win games,” Hayes said.
With a day’s rest between Friday’s win over the Redmen and their match against the Concordia Stingers, the Ravens posted points consistently throughout the game.
“I think we just found the scoring touch in our game against Concordia, in all honesty I think we played a better game against McGill, we just ran into a goalie that was standing tall,” head coach Marty Johnston said.
The Ravens, however, seemed to be firing on all cylinders in Sunday’s game versus the Stingers. Defenceman Jordan Deagle notched his first two goals of the season.
In addition to Deagle’s efforts, Linden Bahm and Joe Plekatis both had pairs on the afternoon’s game.
Mitch Porowski, one of Carleton’s rookie forwards, scored his 13th goal of the season. Porowski now leads the Ravens in goals.
Having faced off against two of three Quebec teams to start 2013, their next game is against UQTR in Trois-Rivières, Que.
