The Ravens men’s football team were defeated 26-23 in overtime by the Western University Mustangs in their regular season home opener on Aug. 26.
This was a tough test for the Ravens, because the Mustangs went 8-0 during their regular season, and won the Vanier Cup championship last year.
“It was a heck of a battle. Both sides played really well,” Steve Sumarah, head coach of the Ravens football team, said.
The Ravens opened the scoring early in the first quarter, when kicker Michael Domagala scored a 20-yard field goal to give the Ravens a three-goal lead.
The Mustangs tied it up early in the second quarter, when their kicker Marc Liegghio scored a 31-yard field goal.
The Ravens responded with a 42-yard field goal of their own to take a 6-3 lead halfway through the second quarter.
The first touchdown of the game for the Ravens came shortly before the end of the second quarter, when Mitch Raper, a Ravens running back, caught a 59-yard pass from quarterback Michael Arruda and ran the ball into the end zone.
The Ravens would get their second touchdown of the game four minutes later, when receiver Phil Iloki caught a 44-yard pass from Arruda.
Mike Domagala, a Ravens kicker, then followed up with another successful kick to give the Ravens a 20-3 lead heading into the third quarter.
“We had a few moments where we could have finished them off, but we didn’t,” Sumarah said.
Shortly into the third quarter, Western scored a 12-yard field goal to make it 20-6.
The Mustangs then scored their first touchdown shortly before the end of the third quarter, when Harry McMaster, a Mustang wide receiver caught a 22-yard pass from quarterback Chris Merchant, which was followed up by an extra-point kick.
The Mustangs’ second touchdown of the game happened one minute into the fourth quarter, when linebacker Philippe Dion recovered a 37-yard fumble and ran into the end zone.
“We had a chance late in the game and again, it’s like anything, you know—you can’t make mistakes against good teams,” Sumarah said.
The Mustangs then kicked an extra point which tied the game at 20 a piece. The team scored a 29-yard field goal 10 minutes after tying the game to give Western their first lead of the game.
Carleton fought back and tied the game up when Domagala scored a 50-yard field goal with one second remaining on the clock to bring the game into overtime.
“I think everybody in the nation expected a much different outcome, except for us,” Jay Dearborn, Ravens defensive back, said.
The Mustangs would win the game when Liegghio scored a 36-yard field goal to bring the score to 26-23.
“We’ve been sort of believing [in ourselves] all through training camp. I think we’re the only ones that saw this as a possibility,” Dearborn said. He added it was a big game, because they proved to themselves, they can play with the Mustangs, who won the national championship last year.
The Ravens head to Windsor on Sept. 3. to play against the University of Windsor Lancers.
