The Carleton Ravens men’s hockey team dropped their second straight game in a shootout, losing 2-1 on the road to the Queen’s Gaels Oct. 30.
The loss was the Ravens’ second in as many days, as they fell 4-3 to the University of Toronto Varsity Blues the previous night.
The Ravens started strong against the Gaels, after centre Joey Manley opened the scoring with four minutes remaining in the first period.
Carleton doubled their lead midway through the second, after rookie Jeff Hayes scored his fifth goal of the season.
However, the momentum shifted when Queen’s battled back with a power play goal in the final minute of the second period. The Gaels were able to keep the energy up in the third, tying the game seven minutes into the frame.
The third period remained deadlocked and overtime solved nothing, leading to a shootout.
With the Ravens shooters stymied, Gaels forward Joey Derochie was the only player able to find the back of the net, leading the Kingston, Ont. outfit to 3-2 win.
Head coach Marty Johnston said that the Gaels’ late second period goal was the turning point of the game.
“It was pretty disappointing to take a penalty right at the end of the period,” Johnston said. “I thought we played responsibly, but they capitalized on the power play, and that was a huge shift in momentum.”
A bright spot on the afternoon was the goaltending of Ravens netminder Matthew Dopud. The rookie stopped 34 of 36 shots he faced.
“He’s a very confident goaltender,” Johnston said of Dopud, whose 1.72 goals against average and .936 save percentage is tied for third among goaltenders in the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) league. “He doesn’t get rattled easily, he plays the puck really well, and he’s not phased by anything, which really helps the team out.”
Although the Ravens have dropped their last two games, they still have points in their last six. Carleton’s record now stands at 5-1-2, which places them second in the OUA East standings.