Coming into the season, head coach Marcelo Plada said the Carleton Ravens men’s soccer team had a motto: “dream, inspire, achieve.” They dreamt, they were inspired, and now, they’ve achieved a provincial title.
The Ravens won their fourth OUA championship in program history on Nov. 4 in a 3-1 victory against the York Lions in front of a raucous home crowd.
After going down early, the Ravens scored three unanswered goals, two of which came from all-star midfielder Luca Piccioli.
The match was slow to start as both teams figured each other out, weary of pressing too hard and being caught out of position.
As the game progressed and play became more fluid, the Lions took the lead. In the 18th minute, Lions forward Tyler Attardo was at the end of an over-the-top ball and beat Ravens goalkeeper Tyler David with a flying finish.
It took just 13 minutes for the Ravens to tie the game up as Piccioli caught the Lions goalkeeper out of position, scoring a 35-yard free kick.
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“I tried to shape my body as if I’m putting it in the box,” Piccioli said after the game. “I saw he was off his line, he was cheating, so I thought ‘why not go for it?’”
Piccioli was undoubtedly the man of the match. On top of his two goals, the midfielder constantly posed an attacking threat, made great runs and connected the team with pinpoint passes across the pitch.
“Luca is special,” Plada said.
Ravens fans agreed as they chanted, “Luca’s on fire, the OUA is terrified!” after his tying goal.
The half ended in a tie with the Ravens on the front foot, but the Lions not far behind.
The second half began with the Lions’ best chance of the match. Forward Matthew Mollicola was left open and received a cross on his foot, but his volley flew over the crossbar. Despite creating some dangerous chances, the Lions struggled to break down the Ravens’ back line.
The Ravens broke the deadlock in the 67th minute when a corner kick fell to the feet of midfielder Omar Darwish, who put it past the goalkeeper. It was Darwish’s first goal as a Raven, as his defensive midfielder position often found him lower on the pitch.
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After taking the lead, the Ravens began to dominate. Instead of collapsing into a defensive low-block, the hosts continued to press their opponents and play creatively on the ball.
Playing without their coach after a red card in the semi-finals, the Lions looked defeated. They struggled to move deep into the final third and truly threaten David.
Piccioli sealed the game in the 89th minute with flair, taking a long touch past a Lions defender, beating the goalkeeper and finishing from a tight angle with his left foot.
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The game ended shortly after, and fans took to the field to celebrate once again.
In his first season as head coach, Plada led his team to the nationals and captured the OUA championship on the way there.
“It’s pretty surreal for me,” Plada said after his team was awarded the Blackwood Cup. “I never thought we’d get so close and get all these awards.”
Piccioli said he was impressed with the resiliency of the team after a come-from-behind win.
“Maybe we got punched in the face at the beginning,” Piccioli said. “They scored first but we showed character, we came back.”
With a near-perfect season and an OUA championship under their belt, the team is in good spirits going into next weekend’s U Sports national championships.
“It feels incredible,” Piccioli said. “We set ourselves up well, we got the top seed. That’s what we wanted, a gold medal to start.”
“We’re on the top of the world right now. We know there’s only three games to go but we feel incredible, [it feels like] we’re unbeatable.”
The Ravens will begin their nationals journey on Nov. 9 in Cape Breton, N.S.
Featured image by Marc Lafleur.
