In the first round of OUA playoff action, the Carleton Ravens men’s soccer team took down the Trent Excalibur 3-1 in front of a spirited home crowd at TAAG Park on Wednesday.
Although the Carleton women’s team was eliminated earlier in the night by their crosstown rivals — the uOttawa Gee-Gees — the men’s team advanced to the OUA quarterfinals.
The Ravens have now made their seventh straight quarterfinals appearance and will have a shot at redemption against the TMU Bold, the team that ended their season last year.
“It was a game we needed to win, and we got the job done,” Ravens midfielder Caden Tomy said after the game.
The two teams played to a 3-3 draw earlier this season, with the Ravens rallying back in the second half on Sept. 26.
The team’s intensity set them apart in the rematch, Tomy said.
“Teams come to play us and [play like] it’s a final,” Tomy added. “We came up and matched that intensity right away, and then our quality can shine through.”
Both teams were looking to rebound from losses in their final regular season games, especially the Ravens, whose undefeated run was spoiled by the Queen’s Gaels.
“It was them believing in themselves,” Ravens head coach Marcelo Plada said of his team’s bounceback.
“Them being the authors of their story, trying to showcase it on the field, leaving it all out there.”
Neither team created any dangerous chances early, but Tomy perfectly timed his run through the Trent defense to connect with Jaeden Mercure’s through ball. He found himself alone with the goalkeeper and calmly slotted it home to break the deadlock in the 15th minute.
Tomy nearly doubled the Ravens’ lead just minutes later. After a give-and-go off a corner kick, Carleton’s leading point scorer whipped the ball from outside the box that rattled off the post — just one of his many chances in the match.
But the Ravens were still hungry for more.
In the 20th minute, Marek Achadinha found the scoresheet, cashing one in on a loose ball to put the Ravens ahead by two.
Despite a dominant first half, a turnover halved the Ravens’ lead in the 35th minute. A routine cross-field pass from a defender lacked power, gifting Trent’s Oliver Parratt a path back into the game.
The Ravens kept dancing in the offensive end, creating chance after chance, but could not find another answer to Excalibur goalkeeper Jack Belanger. Belanger finished the game with a whopping 13 saves.
“Credit to their keeper, he was awesome,” Plada said.
Unlike the last time the two faced off, the Ravens headed into the half in the lead, up 2-1.
In the 77th minute, Mohammed Bouzidi iced the game for the Ravens. Assist leader Tomy sent a long through ball to the striker, helping the home team advance to the next round.
“I didn’t do all that I wanted to do, but I think my best actions made the difference,” Tomy said.
Just like with the Excalibur, the Ravens are looking to settle the score with the Bold, who they drew 1-1 earlier this season. Though the Ravens will face a team that has only conceded 11 goals in 12 games, Plada said he is confident in his team’s offense.
“We’re just a few inches from scoring a lot more goals. We really do believe that [offense] is going to be coming soon, and no better time than against TMU,” Plada said.
Plada added that his next opponents like to stretch the field, a tactic he said plays into the Ravens’ favour.
Kickoff between the Ravens and Bold is set for Saturday at 7:00 p.m.
Featured image by Jake Steele/the Charlatan
