The Carleton Ravens men’s soccer team earned themselves a place in the semi-finals of the U Sports Men’s Soccer Championships after a 2-0 victory over the St. Francis Xavier (St. F.X.) X-Men in Montreal.
With the weather hovering around 1 degree Celsius and a blanket of snow covering the ground, the Ravens knew they were going to have to adjust their game plan heading into the game. The only thing that remained the same was their winning mentality.
At the start of the match, the team had to adjust to St. F.X.’s formation, who aligned themselves with four midfielders and four defenders in their half.
As a result, Carleton decided to play the ball out wide and stretch the game to the wings, often relying on Emad Houche and Dante Cobisa to bring the play forward. Moving wide proved to be a strength for the team.
Yet, for the first 20 minutes, the X-Men stayed strong and the Ravens were finding it difficult to find a way through.
Midfielder Dario Conte, who is never afraid to take a shot from deep, picked up the ball and dragged it left, but his shot went just wide of the net.
Striker Stefan Karajovanovic was the next player to have an attempt on goal and while his strength and speed got him in a good position, he couldn’t find a way to put it past Seamus MacDonald in net.
However, by halftime the scoreline still read 0-0.
A bit frustrated but not down and out, head coach Kwesi Loney said the Ravens took the time at the break to regroup and settle into the match.
“[It] took us a little bit of time to figure them out, but second-half we were able to regroup, get used to the elements, and I thought we played a great 90 minutes,” said Loney. “We managed it really well and scored the two goals that won us the game.”
Coming back onto the pitch, the conditions were still unfavourable for a soccer game, but the team managed to do their best and with a hunger in their eyes, the Ravens approached the second-half knowing a goal was coming.
It took only seven minutes for Carleton to break the deadlock, as midfielder Ricky Comba fought to keep the ball from rolling out on the left wing, and fed it across the goal.
With virtually no St. F.X. defenders in the box, the ball made it all the way to Karajovanovic who ran to the back post and slid the ball into the net with no mistake.
“Scoring the goal today was obviously amazing, but as long as we got the ‘W’ at the end that’s what matters,” said Karajovanovic.
After releasing some of the pressure, there was no looking back for Carleton.
The Ravens took their energy and doubled the lead with just over half an hour to play.
Bursts of speed and momentum appeared through Comba and Dario Conte who were key in recovering the ball and maintaining possession.
Loney’s decision to bring on Sean Kim and Jimi Aribido as substitutes also brought some fresh legs to the match.
The partnership between Karajovanovic and Bitar creates a strong attacking line that serves “the tip of our sword,” according to Loney.
“Seeing both Gabi and Stef get on the scoresheet for the first game of the tournament is a good sign of good things to come,” said the coach after the match.
“I feel like it’s very difficult for teams to prep for us when they don’t know where guys are going to pop up in different spaces, so, mobility is always excellent for us.”
With the first game of the tournament over, the Ravens know there’s still a long road ahead of them, often hyping each other up chanting, “we go again tomorrow.”
“We’ve also now had been in a position where we’ve won the first game,” he said.
“Right now it’s just about [staying] focused on recovering, getting our minds just relaxed and just focus on, you know, what will have to happen tomorrow.” The team will play their semi-final match against L’Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières on Nov. 8 at 4 p.m.
Feature image by Spencer Colby.
