After a dominating season at the top of their division, the Carleton Ravens men’s soccer team competed in the U Sports national championship from Nov. 9-12.
The team played three games against the Université de Montreal Carabins, University of New Brunswick (UNB) Varsity Reds, and the York Lions. The Ravens ended the tournament losing in the consolation finals against York, the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) champions.
Kickoff against the Carabins
The first game the Ravens played was against the Carabins, who won their respective conference. The Ravens fought through the snow and cold weather, but were unable to defeat the Carabins, losing 3-1.
The Carabins wasted no time getting on the board, when five minutes into the first half, forward Guy-Frank Essome-Pen was able to net the ball past Ravens goaltender Nick Jeffs.
Soon after, Carabins Jonathan Makaya got control of the ball after Jeffs lost control of it in the slippery conditions and the ball went into the back of the net to give Montreal a 2-0 lead heading into the second half.
Despite not being able to get through the Carabins’ strong defence, the Ravens offence narrowly outshot Montreal 11-10 in the first half.
Carleton would eventually find the back of the net 12 minutes into the second half when Emad Houache fired the ball into the back of the net past Carabins goaltender Louis-Philippe Simar to cut the lead in half.
The Carabins then scored their third goal with seven minutes remaining in the game when Frederic Lajoie-Grav sent the ball sailing past Jeffs to allow Montreal to seal the victory at 3-1.
“When you play against the best teams in the country you have to limit your mistakes and capitalize on the few opportunities that are created,” said Ravens head coach Kwesi Loney.
The loss caused the Ravens to fall into the consolation bracket where they would be playing for a highest place finish of fifth.
The loss was brightened by the U Sports award banquet where Ravens striker Gabriel Bitar was awarded Rookie of the Year, the first Raven to do so. He also landed a spot as a First Team All-Canadian, the first Raven since 2013 to win this honor.
Ravens come out on top over Varsity Reds
The Ravens were met by the UNB Varsity Reds in the consolation semi-finals, where Carleton was able to defeat the Atlantic University Sport finalists in a thrilling 4-3 match.
Midway through the first half, Carleton got on the board first when Houache directed a corner kick to the net and midfielder Ricky Comba headed the ball into the net to give the Ravens a 1-0 lead.
“[Comba] really showed his ability to play at the highest level. One of the reasons we recruited him was his tireless work ethic, he runs from box to box and doesn’t ask any questions, just gets the job done,” Loney said.
The Varsity Reds responded soon after as midfielder Ben Gorringe came charging to the net, slipped past Ravens defenseman Weber Bourjolly and sent the ball over Ravens goalie David Monk into the net to tie the game.
Less than a minute later, UNB struck again when defenseman Joe Hamilton sent the ball into the lower left side of the net to give his side a 2-1 lead.
Carleton was able to stop the UNB offensive push and score one of their own as Bitar sent a free kick sailing into the net, tying the game at two apiece.
UNB answered back with a goal of their own when Varsity Reds defenseman Kalen Park drew Monk out of the net with a fake and then passed to Gorringe who sent the ball into the wide open net to regain the lead.
Eight minutes later, Ravens midfielder Dante Cobisa sent the ball to Bitar who headed it into the net for his second of the game to tie the game, 3-3.
Then, just seconds into extra time, Ravens midfielder Tristan St. Pierre found room for himself and sent the ball over UNB goaltender Evan Barker’s shoulder, ending the game 4-3 for the Ravens.
The win was the Ravens’ first at nationals and the first time the team has advanced to the consolation final since 2012.
Rematch against York
The Ravens would find themselves facing the York Lions, the team they lost to in the OUA finals. The match would be decided by penalty kicks, with York winning by a score of 2-1.
In the first half, both teams fought hard to get the first goal of the game, but it was York that would eventually get on the board first 35 minutes in as Lions midfielder Dylan Carreiro picked up a rebound and put the ball into the back of the net past Jeffs.
There would be no more goals in the first half as York went into the second half ahead, having outshot Carleton 8-7.
Carleton would tie the game late in the second half after Bitar headed the ball off a York defender and into the net.
After remaining scoreless through extra-time, the game went into penalty kicks where York outscored Carleton 4-3 to secure 5th place with Carleton placing 6th in the country.
“This weekend has been a good realization that even though we had a quality, breakthrough year for the program, we still have a way to go in terms of competing with the nation’s best,” Loney said.
The loss at the national championships capped off an award-filled season for the Ravens that included a second place finish at the OUA championships, an OUA East division Coach of the Year award for Loney, and six players being named OUA First-Team All-Stars.
“The key [this year] was to set a good foundation to build the program on and I think we’ve done that,” Loney said. “Now the focus is on developing the athletes that we’ve brought into the program . . . we want to be continually competitive and strive for success next season.”
Photo by Patrick Gillan
