The Carleton Ravens men’s soccer team opened up their regular season with a pair of wins at home against the University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT) Ridgebacks and the Trent Excalibur.
They beat the Ridgebacks 2-0 on Aug. 26, and then the Ravens offence exploded with an 11-0 win over Trent the following day.
Against UOIT the Ravens found the back of the net late in the first half when Ravens midfielder Ricky Comba was able to get his shot past UOIT goaltender Nicholas Miller.
Ten minutes later, on a nice pass from midfield, Ravens midfielder Emad Houache scored on Miller to bring the Ravens to a 2-0 lead just as the clock ticked down to halftime.
Following a red card for UOIT midfielder Mateo Marques in the 59th minute, the Ravens were able to successfully hold the Ridgebacks at bay and finish out the game allowing no goals against, winning 2-0.
On Aug. 27, against Trent, the Ravens came out strong offensively and Carleton’s stellar defensive play shut down any offensive pushback keeping the Excalibur from scoring.
Ravens forward Gabriel Bitar opened the scoring on a free kick when he put the ball into the back of the net in the 12th minute of play.
Three minutes later, rookie forward Stefan Karajovanovic scored his very first goal as a Raven — and then a minute later he picked up a rebound in front of the net and scored his second goal of the game.
Only two minutes later, Ravens midfielder Dario Conte was able to score, bringing the Ravens up 4-0.
The Ravens would add two more goals from Bitar and Karajovanovic before the clock ran down to halftime, making the score 6-0.
In the second half, Houache added his name to the score sheet 48 minutes into the match and then six minutes later, Karajovanovic scored his fourth goal of the game.
After that, the Ravens exploded with three more goals from Walker Smith, Jeremy Ayewa, and Weber Bourjolly to bring the score up to 11-0.
“I want to contribute to the team offensively by scoring goals as much as I can and defensively being the first player to help build the defensive block,” Karajovanovic said after the game.
The back-to-back wins for the Ravens mark a strong opening for the season.
“We are happy with the great results of this weekend. We feel brilliant as a team, however we still have things to change and prepare for a really busy weekend and season coming up,” Karajovanovic said.
The Ravens play their next game on Sept. 1 at MNP Park against the University of Toronto Varsity Blues before lining up against the Ryerson Rams the next day.
