The Carleton Ravens men’s hockey team went winless over the weekend, falling to the Laurier Golden Hawks by a score of 4-2 on Jan. 27, and then in a 3-2 shootout loss to the Waterloo Warriors the following night.
The Ravens are now 15-8-2 on the season and sit fourth in the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) East Division with three games remaining in the regular season.
The Golden Hawks got off to a quick start, scoring two goals in the first period while keeping Carleton off the score board.
Forward Andrew Fritsch scored the Hawks’ first goal of the night on the power play, receiving pass from Mac Clutsam in the faceoff circle and firing a one-timer that made its way past Ravens goaltender François Brassard.
Laurier’s power play made the Ravens pay once more a minute later, when Derek Schoenmaker’s wrist shot found its way from the blue line through traffic and past Brassard’s blocker to the back of the net.
Ravens assistant coach Shaun Van Allen noted he saw a lot of hard work from his players, despite the loss.
“We’re very pleased with the effort, we’re disappointed with the loss but we were extremely pleased with the effort,” he said.
Van Allen and fellow assistant Ryan Medel are filling in for head coach Marty Johnston while he coaches Team Canada at the 2017 Winter Universiade in Almaty, Kazakhstan along with forwards Corey Durocher, Michael McNamee, Brett Welychka, and Ryan Van Stralen.
Christian Mroczkowski stretched Laurier’s lead to 3-0 six minutes into the second period.
Carleton did not get their first of the game until there were only five minutes remaining in the period, when forward Adam Chapman deflected in a Tyler Akeson point shot on the power play.
Chapman scored once more with a minute and a half remaining in the period, when he had a Brent Norris shot rebound off Laurier goaltender Colin Furlong and onto his stick in the slot. Chapman wasted no time burying his second of the game and 11th of the season.
“Just battling in front,” Chapman said of his goals. “That’s kinda where I get all of my goals, I guess, around the net and they’re bouncing my way.”
3-2 was as close as the Ravens would get, as Schoenmaker finished off a two-on-one with nine seconds remaining in the period for his second goal of the game. The Ravens outshot the Golden Hawks 42-13 on the night, but could not translate that lead into a lead on the scoreboard.
“You know, their goalie made some good saves, probably could’ve got a little more traffic, but for the most part he made some nice saves,” Van Allen said. “We tried to get as many pucks as we could to the net, and we accomplished that.”
It was the Ravens who would get out to a fast start against Waterloo in a Saturday night contest that at times got quite heated, particularly once the Warriors tied the game in the second period.
Curtis Meighan opened the scoring for Carleton midway through the first, when he fired a wrist shot over the shoulder of Waterloo goaltender Mike Morrison.
Waterloo defender Eric Diodati tied the game at one five minutes into the second period for the Warriors, and the score remained that way until Alexandre Boivin used his seventh goal of the season to restore the Ravens’ lead midway through the third.
For a few minutes, it seemed that the lead might hold, but Stephen Silas fired a wrist shot from the point past Ravens goalie Justin Nichols, who was making his fifth start of the season. Both Nichols and Morrison made 36 saves on the evening. Nobody could break the tie in the remaining six minutes of play, or in the two overtime periods that followed. Silas eventually scored the shootout winner for the Warriors.
“Once again we worked hard, we saw some good things, but at the same time we have to make better decisions, especially when we have the lead,” Medel said. “Just a little bit too weak sometimes, even in the offensive zone. Too many chances against late in the game, which we weren’t happy about.”
Next up for the Ravens is a matchup against crosstown rivals the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees on Feb. 2 at Minto Sports Complex.
The Gee-Gees currently sit one point behind the Ravens in the OUA East standings with 31, but can pass Carleton with a win.
Both teams have three games remaining on their schedules, and could potentially meet in the first round of the OUA playoffs. U of O is 8-2-0 in their last ten games and had a seven-game win streak snapped this past weekend by the Guelph Gryphons in a 4-3 game.
“I think we just need to tighten up defensively, again, we were happy with the work ethic all weekend, but our decision-making wasn’t obviously the best, sometimes simple is better,” Medel said. “I think that’s something we’ll be going over and we’ll have to bring Thursday.”
– Photo by Cameron Penney
