As you buckle up your fall boots, the Carleton Ravens men’s soccer team laced up their cleats and hit the field this past weekend to play against the Laurentian Voyageurs and Nipissing Lakers, while adding another victory to their record.
As the stakes get higher as the team approaches playoffs, they sought to secure their spot and crushed the Voyageurs with a 4-1 win and tied the Lakers 1-1.
The Ravens started their weekend in Sudbury on Oct. 15 against the Voyageurs. It was a tough but triumphant game for the team.
Despite a total of seven fouls in the game—three for the Ravens and four for the Voyageurs—Carleton managed to score four goals from three different players.
Both teams were unsuccessful in scoring in the first half of the game. Two minutes into the second half, Voyageurs striker Matthew Wilkes opened the scoring for Laurentian.
The Ravens scored all four of their goals in the last 30 minutes of the game. Ravens defender Julian Piccioli tied up the game with his fourth goal of the season.
Ravens forward Mekonen Lovemore-White scored the next two goals only ten minutes apart, followed by Danta Cosbisa’s goal with two minutes left of the game.
Ravens head coach Kwesi Loney said although they didn’t fully take advantage of their opportunities, they played really well on Saturday.
The most memorable moment of the game, according to Loney, was when Lovemore-White came off the bench and scored two goals for the Ravens.
“Lovemore-White came on the field, brought back the energy we needed, and scored the goals to win us the game,” he said.
The following day, the team made their way to North Bay to take on a Nipissing team in search of their second win of the season.
It didn’t take too long for the Ravens to score unlike their game the previous day. Four minutes into the game, Ravens defender Dondrae Fells converted on a pass from Piccioli.
The Ravens put up a strong defence and prevented the Lakers from scoring in the first half. However, they fell short, allowing Lakers defender Alexander Zero to score the tying goal with two minutes left of the game.
“I think we lacked focus. We lacked a little bit of focus and discipline at the end of the game which lead there to be a tie instead of winning,” Loney said.
The final two regular season games for the Ravens will have an impact on the playoffs, according to Loney, and he said the team is having four days of training to prepare for those games.
The team is currently third in their conference and the game on Oct. 22 against the University of Toronto will determine who secures second in the standings.
“I am hoping that the guys can turn the corner and understand to put out different styles of focus required in the regular season,” Loney said.
