The Carleton Ravens men’s hockey team were beaten by the University of New Brunswick (UNB) Varsity Reds by a score of 2-1 in the quarterfinals of the University Cup on Mar. 15.
“A tough loss. The guys played really hard,” Ravens head coach Shaun Van Allen said. “They competed with those guys for 60 minutes, and they just capitalized on one more scoring chance, but we were right there with them.”
The Varsity Reds opened the scoring seven minutes into the opening frame when forward Tyler Boland sent the puck past Ravens goaltender Francois Brassard and into the back of the net.
The Ravens left the ice after 20 minutes trailing 10-8 in shots on goal, as well as being down 1-0.
The Ravens got on the board eight minutes into the second period when Ravens forward Matthew Forchuk picked up his own rebound and buried it past Varsity Reds goaltender Alex Dubeau.
Fifth-year Varsity Reds forward Matt Boudens answered back two minutes later as he potted his ninth goal of the playoffs to make it 2-1 for UNB.
The Ravens once again left the ice trailing 18-6 after the second period.
Despite facing 18 shots in the third period, Brassard came up with some big saves as he didn’t allow the Varsity Reds to escape with any more goals.
“He played well. He’s been like that all year,” Van Allen said on Brassard’s performance. “Played the puck well, made big saves for us. He was another guy that competed hard.”
During the third period of play, the Ravens came up with some big chances to force a tie game, including one where Ravens forward Brett Gustavsen had a chance before a UNB player dislodged the goaltender’s net.
“We’re right around the net there, it bounces one way or the other, we’ll probably get it and tie the game,” Van Allen said on the play. “I thought Gustavsen played really hard today. He cycled the puck today, and they had a tough time controlling him down low.”
Despite pushing back and forcing chances, the Ravens couldn’t end up capitalizing on any chances as they fell 2-1 to the UNB Varsity Reds.
“I think we didn’t back down, we weren’t intimidated by them, and they’re a good team,” Van Allen said. “They average five goals a game, and we kept them to two, but I thought we held our own.”
Photo provided by U Sports
