The Carleton Ravens men’s hockey team picked up three out of a possible four points while on the road over the weekend.
The Ravens dropped a close 2-1 overtime decision to the Ontario Tech Ridgebacks Nov. 24 before winning a wild 6-5 thriller against the last-place York Lions Nov. 25.
Even so, Carleton still sits in the murky middle in the OUA East division, holding a 7-5-4 record, good for sixth place. Four teams ahead of them hold games in hand.
Missed opportunity
As Ravens head coach Shaun Van Allen has often said over the years, every point matters, no matter how early it is in the season. Carleton came into Oshawa facing a very beatable 7-6-1 Ridgebacks team.
In the end, they couldn’t pull through.
The Ravens started strong, with forward Parker AuCoin netting the first goal of the game not even 10 minutes in. But to not score another goal and ultimately drop the game in overtime is a valuable point lost.
Ontario Tech forward and leading scorer Cullen McLean potted goals in the second and overtime periods to grab the win.
To their credit, the Ravens put more rubber on net than the Ridgebacks, but goaltender William Desmarais turned aside 27 of 28 shots.
A necessary two points
Moving west down the 401 to York, Carleton needed two points to ensure a successful road trip.
While they managed to get them, it didn’t come easy.
Despite a hat trick from leading scorer Kieran Craig, the Ravens found themselves trailing 5-4 in the third period.
Ravens goaltender Mark Grametbauer allowed five goals on 25 shots, while the Lions’ Carter Serhyenko was peppered all night, making 48 saves by the end of the game.
Serhyenko was frequently hung out to dry by York’s defence, allowing the Ravens many good looks at the net.
With an open shooting gallery, it was only a matter of time before the Ravens evened the score.
Forward Alex Johnston found the back of the net to send Carleton to overtime for the second time in 24 hours.
This time, they prevailed as forward Nolan Seed buried the dagger to salvage the game.
The Ravens play their final games of 2023 against the Guelph Gryphons Dec. 1 and the Brock Badgers Dec. 2 at the Ice House.
With the teams ahead of Carleton possessing games in hand, picking up a full four points would be a huge boost heading into the new year.
Featured image by Daren Valdez.
