It was a familiar matchup in the gold medal game of the 2019 Ontario University Athletics (OUA) Water Polo Championship, but not a happy one for the Carleton Ravens went who fell 12-9 to University of Toronto Varsity Blues on Dec. 1.
In the semi-finals, Carleton played against Queens University eventually pulling away with a 11-5 victory.
Ranking second in the tournament going in, making it to the final was a high expectation for Carleton. With that achievement unlocked, the next goal was to defeat their familiar opponents.
Since 2004, the Ravens and the Varsity Blues have alternated between winning the title and Toronto comes out on top with 12 out of 16 possible victories. The games are always a good show according to Michael Nevins, a player for Carleton.
“Everytime we play them it’s always a close game, they’re usually the favourites going in … but we also have a really close, competitive game going, it gets heated,” said Nevins.
This season, it came down to who could finish their chances more.
In the first five minutes of the game, the Ravens found themselves down 5-1 but fought back in the second quarter.
At halftime, the score was 7-5 for Toronto.
Before even reaching the OUA Championships, Carleton lost their regular goalie at the beginning of the term. Nevins, normally a field player, switched to net, the first time he had ever played the position.
“I decided I’d try it and hop in net and went from there,” said Nevins.
Being the man between the posts during the Championships was a daunting task.
“[I was] really nervous for sure, during the semis and the gold going in net was definitely really nerve wracking … [but] I was confident in my guys to have my back.”
During the second half of the game, Carleton couldn’t find a way to put the ball in the back of the net and the Blues came away with the 12-9 victory.
Despite the loss, Ravens co-captain Mihailo Krstic applauded the team’s performance.
“Both of our teams, we have [a] bit of an elevated level of quality and skill level,” he said.
“I think overall it went great, we got back in the finals which was our goal from the start.”
Looking ahead to next season, the Ravens aim to work on small details to “perfect the little things” according to Krstic.
Feature image provided.
