The Carleton Ravens men’s soccer team finished off one of the best seasons in Ravens soccer history this year with a sixth place finish at U Sports nationals in Kamloops, B.C.
The team consisted of only one fourth year and one fifth year player, with the majority of the team being first-years. The young team found a leader in fourth-year midfielder Tristan St. Pierre.
St. Pierre is an Ottawa native who is at Carleton for the sustainable and renewable energy engineering program and was given the position of team captain in the off-season before the start of their nationals campaign.
“[The team] made it easy, everyone took up a pretty big leadership role and made my job really just corralling people and making sure guys did stuff on time and that things and traditions of the team were respected,” he said.
St. Pierre will be the oldest player on the team heading into next year. His leadership will be important if the team hopes to repeat their stellar season this year.
The Ravens soccer team was the top team in the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) regular season going 13-1-2, scoring a total of 57 goals. St. Pierre’s main contribution was his strong defensive play.
During the Ravens U Sports nationals appearance St. Pierre scored one goal in two games.
“It was unbelievable, we had a ton of fun for the entire week. I mean obviously we went there to win and we came away finishing sixth, which is still a good finish,” he said about the experience. “My wake up every morning was a mountain out of my hotel window . . . and I didn’t have to go to school for a week, which I think everyone enjoys.”
Along with a winning season as a team, St. Pierre was named to the OUA East First All-Star team along with five other Ravens.
“It’s a big honour for me, I haven’t gotten it in my previous three years playing. It could have gone to anyone else on our line-up, we were a team and I don’t think I contributed anything more than anyone else,” he said. “It’ll be nice to have on my wall late in life for sure.”
St. Pierre’s hopes for next season are at an all-time high with only one player graduating, the team is returning with their roster and coaching staff intact.
“I think that’s a big thing, we have all the coaches, all the players back, so really we have the personnel there to do the same thing as this year, but now, with a little more experience and hopefully go undefeated next year, optimistically,” he said.
With this season coming to a close, St. Pierre now enters his final off-season with the Ravens. He has not only enjoyed his time playing soccer, but mentions his experiences at Carleton are what he’ll miss the most.
“I’d love to leave with some hardware, a championship or two would be awesome, but the biggest think I try to put on to the guys is that you’re here and you’re in university. Yes, soccer is important, and school is important, but you gotta enjoy your time, you gotta do extracurriculars, be social,” he said.
The Carleton Ravens now head into their off-season with time to reflect on their team’s breakout year. The team heads into next year with a large returning player base and St. Pierre captaining the ship.
