The 2015 calendar year was one of sweeping change across the Carleton Ravens’ landscape. Men’s basketball won yet another title before undergoing a dramatic facelift, while the football team made the jump from newborn to playoff contender.
After scouring through hundreds of games—from Tuesday night hockey snoozers at Queen’s to a national championship on the hardwood in Toronto—we’ve picked the 10 best of 2015.
10. Men’s hockey: Hayes explodes on Senior Night (01/30/15)
Senior forward Jeff Hayes fittingly led Carleton to a 4-1 win against the University of Toronto (U of T) on “Senior Night” at the Carleton Ice House. Hayes, a local product who finished his career with 134 points as a Raven, scored two goals and set up Ryan Van Stralen’s game-winner as Carleton dominated the visiting Blues. Nearly one year later, Hayes, who graduated with a double-major in biology and psychology, is starring professionally in Hungary with MAC Budapest.
9. Women’s hockey: Historic upset (11/13/15)
With 65 per cent of Carleton’s roster made up of first-year players, few expected much of coach Pierre Alain’s rebuilding team in 2015-16. The top-ranked McGill Marlets certainly didn’t when they traveled to the Ice House in mid-November. In the game Ravens goalie Katelyn Steele pitched a 35-save shutout and rookie Becky Davidson scored the lone goal as Carleton knocked off the Martlets on home ice 1-0 for the first time in program history.
8. Women’s basketball: Win over defending champs (11/28/15)
Heather Lindsay’s monster individual performance led the Ravens women’s basketball team past the defending national champion Windsor Lancers 80-63, at the Raven’s Nest in Carleton’s final game before the Christmas break. Lindsay, an Ottawa native, registered a double-double, shot 67 per cent from the floor, and posted a game-high 24 points in the win. Having ridden themselves of the injury bug, the 5-2 Ravens are now poised for a strong second half.
7. Men’s basketball: Cruising to the provincial title (03/07/15)
They came, they saw, they conquered. In what may be Dave Smart’s final season with Carleton, with the Scrubb brothers firing on all cylinders, the Ravens ran with Smart screaming in their ears the entire way to the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) title. After a narrow 84-80 win over Ryerson in the semi-final, Carleton blasted Windsor 103-59 in the final. The Ravens had five players register 10 or more points, and out-rebounded the Lancers a whopping 52-29.
6. Women’s soccer: Raining on UOIT’s parade (10/28/15)
After dropping both meetings with the Ridgebacks during the regular season, Carleton traveled to Oshawa on a rainy Wednesday night as the sixth seeded for a playoff matchup against the third-seeded Ridgebacks. An early goal from Vanessa Germano set the tone, and the Ravens locked the game down defensively. Tina Lacava’s late goal sealed a 2-0 upset victory for Raz El-Asmar’s team, which nearly knocked off top-ranked University of Ottawa in a spirited game the following round.
5. Men’s hockey: Beating a pro team, 101 (09/28/15)
Media pundits and fans alike unanimously predicted a blowout when Carleton hosted the Binghamton Senators, the top minor-league affiliate of the NHL’s Ottawa Senators. Ravens head coach Marty Johnston admitted prior to the game he was afraid his team might get embarrassed. Breaking from the script, Carleton scored just five minutes in via rookie Brent Norris and never looked back—goaltender Patrick Killeen’s 29-save shutout effort was enough to preserve a head-turning 1-0 upset win for the college kids.
4. Football: Momentous playoff win (10/31/15)
Having ended 2014 and started 2015 with losses against Queen’s, the Ravens traveled to Kingston for an OUA quarter-final against the Gaels with one thing in mind: revenge. In the program’s first playoff appearance of its modern history, Carleton slaughtered Queen’s 39-8 at the Gaels’ own half-demolished stadium. Ravens quarterback Jesse Mills threw for 334 yards and a trio of touchdowns, while the Carleton defence sacked Queen’s quarterback Nate Hobbs seven times in a landmark victory.
3. Men’s water polo: Unexpected provincial championship (11/29/15)
Though as a dynasty the men’s water polo team is far less celebrated than men’s basketball, the former’s run of three provincial titles in five years is nothing to scoff at. Capturing the title in dramatic fashion this year, the Ravens wrestled the championship back from arch-rivals U of T with a 10-9 shootout win in the OUA final. Rodrigo Rojas scored four in the win for Carleton, while goalkeeper Yorek Hurrelmann was the hero of the shootout, stopping four of the six Toronto shooters he faced.
2. Men’s basketball: Dominant national championship (03/15/15)
Another year, another title. With the Scrubb brothers—cornerstones of Carleton’s most recent string of national titles—playing their final minutes of college basketball, and head coach Dave Smart set to leave the program he built, the Ravens put an exclamation mark on their inevitable national title with a 93-46 dismantling of U of O in the final. The Scrubb brothers combined for 48 points, while Carleton’s tenacious team defence forced the Gee-Gees into shooting a dismal 25 per cent from the floor. Dominating? Yes. Exciting? Yes. Anything new? Not really.
1. Football: Wild Panda Game title defence (10/03/15)
Nothing could really top Carleton’s Hail Mary game-winning touchdown in the dying moments of the 2014 Panda Game, right? Wrong. By the time Ravens kicker Michael Domagala drilled a chip-shot to win the 2015 edition, the two cross-town rivals had combined for 1,131 total yards of offence, three interceptions, and seven fumbles. As well, it was in double overtime in front of 17,500 fans. For pure entertainment value, no other Ravens game on the 365-day calendar in 2015 came anywhere close to #Panda15.
