The Carleton Ravens met the Nipissing University Lakers on the night of Jan. 19, and ended up walking away with a victorious 6-4 decision.
Justin Nichols got the nod in net for the Ravens, as he faced down Domenic Graham at the other end of the ice.
One minute into the opening frame, the Ravens took the lead when forward Hayden Hulton passed the puck to forward Dakota Odgers, who sent the puck trickling under Graham’s pads.
Nipissing made it a tie game five minutes later, as Lakers forward Gael Lubwele picked a rebound up from the back of the net and tipped the puck past Nichols.
Three minutes later, the Ravens regained the lead when forward Chiwetin Blacksmith redirected the puck into the net for his third goal of the season.
“He played very well offensively. Tipped a goal in, made some real nice passes that set up two goals, and he was a major part of the game winner—basically, he did it all by himself,” head coach Shaun Van Allen said on Blacksmith’s goal.
The Ravens jumped out to a 3-1 lead before the end of the period when defenceman C.J. Garcia wound up for a slapshot and buried it for his second of the season.
The Ravens continued their offensive rush into the second period as forward Alexandre Boivin recorded his 12th goal to give his team a 4-1 lead.
Ten minutes into the second period, Nipissing answered back with a goal of their own as they cut the Ravens lead in half, altering the momentum of the game into the Lakers’ favour.
Nine minutes into the final frame, Nipissing made it a one-goal game as forward Lucas Clark tipped the puck up and over Nichols.
The Lakers got themselves back into the game as forward Colin Campbell shoveled the rebound past Nichols on the powerplay for the tying goal four minutes later.
The Ravens retook the lead once again with two minutes left in the third period when Blacksmith made a move around a Lakers defenceman, feeding forward Jake Smith the puck, who sent it over Graham’s glove.
“The puck was at their blueline and their defence picked it up. I picked the puck up and saw their defence was looking up the ice and saw a two on one,” Blacksmith said on assisting Smith’s goal. “I noticed the defenceman was sliding and just tried pulling it back as far as I could. Then I saw Smith back door for a tap in.”
Three minutes later, the Ravens vanquished Nipissing’s hopes for a comeback as forward Brogan O’Brien tipped the rebound into the net to end the high scoring affair.
The Ravens will now look ahead to next weekend as they get set to take on the Concordia Stingers and the McGill Redmen at the Ice House—Van Allen calls it “two huge games” for his team.
“We have to have a good week of practice,” Van Allen said.
“You look at the standings and you’re bunched from 2-7, so if you don’t keep winning it’s only going to get harder for you in the playoffs.”
– With files from Stuart Miller-Davis
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Photo by Spencer Colby
