Members of the Carleton Ravens hockey team celebrate after winning 8-7 in overtime during the Colonel By Classic matchup in Ottawa, on Sunday, Jan. 22, 2023. [Photo by Spencer Colby/The Charlatan]

The annual Colonel By Classic made a groundbreaking return yesterday after a two-year hiatus due to COVID-19. The Carleton Ravens men’s hockey team defeated the uOttawa GeeGees 8-7, while the Carleton Ravens women’s hockey team fell to the GeeGees 4-3. Both games went to overtime and accumalated 22 goals combined.

The Ravens men’s hockey team has lifted the Flag—the men’s trophy awarded for winning the Colonel By Classic—four out of the five classic games. Sunday’s 15-goal thriller outscores all of the last five annual games combined. 

Prior to Sunday’s matchup, the women’s hockey series for the Alerts Cup—the women’s trophy awarded for winning the Colonel By Classic—was tied at one-a-piece. The GeeGees overtime win puts them up 2-1 in the series.

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The puck dropped for the men’s game at 4 p.m. and the Ravens got off to a quick start, scoring two goals in the first 11 minutes from forwards Garrett Wright and Brogan O’Brien. The GeeGees answered back with two power-play goals from forwards Nicolas Ouellet and Bradley Chenier, separated with a goal by Ravens forward Parker AuCoin.

At the end of the first period, the score was 3-2 for the Ravens.

The GeeGees won the second period. Forward Max Grondin scored one minute and 15 seconds into the period before Carleton’s Matt Barberis restored the Ravens lead halfway through the second. The GeeGees had the last laugh of the period when forward Charles-Antoine Roy scored with less than five minutes left.

With the score tied at 4-4 heading into the third period, the game’s back-and-forth demeanour that persisted through two-thirds of the game, evolved to something that not even Ravens head coach Shaun Van Allen could explain.

“To tell you the truth, it was just an ugly hockey game,” Van Allen said. “It was just a gong show going on out there … It’s going to take a while for someone to explain that game to me.”

Forward Aaron Boyd and AuCoin restored the Ravens’ two-goal advantage. The goals came four minutes and three seconds and four minutes and 42 seconds into the third period, respectively. Chenier had his second power-play goal of the night, but defenceman Lukash Matthews answered back for the Ravens. 

The Ravens had a 7-5 lead with less than 10 minutes left in the game. Chenier completed his hat trick 11 minutes into the third and Liam Markhauser forced overtime when he levelled the score for the GeeGees at the 14.35-minute mark

The Ravens’ defenceman Majid Kaddoura grabbed the golden goal for Carleton six minutes into overtime. In awe and celebration, Carleton’s players rushed the ice and huddled around each other while the Ravens’ fan section erupted in joy.

In the second half of the double header, the Ravens women’s side started similarly to their male counterpart. Hayden Serniuk opened the scoring five minutes and 24 seconds into the game and the Ravens held on to their 1-0 advantage at the end of the first period.

But the GeeGees responded 42 seconds into the second period with a goal from Abygail Moloughney. It was the fastest goal to the start of any period across the two games. It also levelled the game for the GeeGees, similar to how the GeeGees men’s team equalized the game against Carleton.

But the third period was the most eventful one of the game. Carleton’s Sydney Berta gave the Ravens a 2-1 lead with an unassisted goal, but the GeeGees clapped back with two goals from Béatrice Bilodeau and Sophie Gareau, separated by 28 seconds. The Ravens’ Aoife Mahaffy forced overtime with a goal at the 13.53-minute mark. 

It was a power-play goal to nail the Ravens in defeat. With four minutes 46 seconds into overtime, Kylie Lalonde scored the game winner for the GeeGees.

Featured image updated to include a larger image format Jan. 24, 2023

Featured image by Spencer Colby.

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