The Carleton Ravens men’s hockey team opened up the quarterfinal best-of-three series against the University of Ottawa (U of O) Gee-Gees with a 3-2 victory in overtime.
The two teams last faced each other in the playoffs back in 2013 which saw the Ravens advance to the second round with a 2-1 win in the series.
Halfway through the opening period, Ravens forward Curtis Meighan opened the scoring on a shorthanded goal when he deked out Gee-Gees goaltender Anthony Brodeur to give Carleton a 1-0 lead heading into the second period.
With the goal, Meighan recorded his first goal of the season and the Ravens’ first post-season goal this year.
“It’s really nice, it’s nice that it finally came in such an important game. I’m just happy I contributed in that way. With a lot of guys out of the lineup we needed some secondary scoring and we needed some guys to step up so I’m just glad that I was able to help the team in that regard,” Meighan said.
Eleven minutes into the second period, Gee-Gees forward Brendan Jacome fired a wrist shot up and over Ravens goaltender Francois Brassard on a shorthanded goal to tie the game up at one.
The Ravens answered back two minutes later when Meighan recorded his second of both the game and the season as he sent a wrist shot just past Brodeur and into the net to give the Ravens a 2-1 lead heading into the final period.
The final period had many back and forth chances between the teams until, two minutes before the end of the game, in a scramble around the net, Gee-Gees forward Jacob Hanlon poked the puck into the net, tying the game up and forcing overtime.
After a lengthy overtime period the Ravens got an opportunity after a U of O penalty at the seven minute mark. Ravens forward Adam Chapman was able to capitalize on the man advantage, picking up the rebound and putting the puck past Brodeur to give the Ravens a 3-2 win and the 1-0 lead in the series.
“Really glad we won, there were time where we were just okay out there. Our goalie made some big saves for us but we found a way to win and, when you’re in a best-of-three getting that first one really helps. This series is a long way from over, but we’ll take that first one tonight and enjoy it,” Ravens head coach Shaun Van Allen said after the game.
The Ravens head over to the Minto Sports Complex for the second game of the series on Feb. 16.
“Hopefully it’ll give us some confidence, but we also know if we don’t play better we won’t win the series,” Van Allen said about heading into the second game up 1-0.
Photo by Dan Robertson
