The Ravens men’s hockey team had a quick turnover as they traveled to Kingston, Ont., to face off against the Queen’s University Gaels in game two of the OUA East Final—24 hours after they lost to the Gaels in game one.
The game turned in favour of the Gaels as Queen’s pulled off a 4-1 victory, sweeping the Ravens out of the series.
“We’re obviously disappointed . . . we’re outshooting them after the second period, and they’re in the lead, so, it’s disappointing,” head coach Shaun Van Allen said.
The opening frame remained scoreless until the remaining five minutes when Gaels forward Luke Edwards fired the puck past Ravens goalkeeper Francois Brassard from the left point side.
With a minute remaining in the period, the Gaels extended their lead to two, as defenceman Spencer Abraham, sent the puck flying past Brassard, from where he was in front of the Ravens’ bench.
As the teams left the ice, the Ravens had 16 shots on goal as the Gaels trailed with nine shots.
The Ravens then made it a one-goal game seven minutes into the second period when forward Aaron Boyd pounced on the rebound and put the puck past Gaels netminder Justin Fazio.
By the end of the period, the Ravens left the ice with 21 shots on net while the Gaels had eight shots.
With four minutes remaining in the final frame, Gaels forward Jared Bethune got sent on a partial breakaway, skirted around the Ravens lone defender, and backhanded the puck past Brassard to give his team a 3-1 lead.
Gaels forward Duncan Campbell said Bethune’s goal “was so huge.”
“Just for the confidence, for the guys, it builds us up,” he added. “It put a lot more weight on their [Carleton’s] shoulders in the last two minutes. So, it sure makes it a lot easier on us, and that was just an unbelievable play.”
A minute later, the Gaels put the game to rest when Campbell sent the puck trickling into the Ravens’ empty net.
“It’s pure bliss right now, it was a hard-fought series. Give credit to Carleton—they stayed in it, tying it up in the first game going to overtime, and making it a close one tonight,” Campbell said.
“But finishing it up at home in front of our home fans, it’s awesome. It’s just a surreal feeling and it’s nice to have that momentum, that support, going into the finals, and we’re just super excited,” he added.
Despite dropping a 4-1 decision, the Ravens peppered a total of 51 shots on net, but couldn’t find a way to get past Fazio.
“The effort was outstanding, it’s been outstanding all through the playoffs, and it’s a huge credit to them,” Van Allen said.
“We just didn’t score enough goals. We didn’t get enough traffic on their goaltender. He’s a really good goaltender, when he sees it, he’s going to stop it.”
With the loss, the Ravens will now play in the Queen’s Cup bronze medal game next weekend against the loser of the OUA West Final between the Guelph Gryphons and the Western Mustangs.
“Our season’s not over. We’re going to go home next week and probably take the weekend off, recharge, and be ready to go on Monday,” Van Allen said.
Photo by Tim Austen
