The Carleton Ravens men’s soccer team had their winning streak halted this weekend in a pair of games at MNP Park.
The Ravens played to a 1-1 draw against the University of Toronto (U of T) Varsity Blues on Sept. 10 and then fell 4-1 to the Ryerson Rams on Sept. 11.
“The guys know that, we had these games, we had opportunities to score,” Ravens head coach Kwesi Loney said following the loss to the Rams. “There just needs to be a little more conviction, more resolve in our play moving forward.”
The Ravens’ best chance to score in the first half came from striker Mekonen Lovemore-White, when his strike beat Toronto goalkeeper Mark Rogal, but hit the crossbar.
The contest featured plenty of physical play. The Ravens were assessed 25 fouls, as well as seven yellow cards, while U of T only recorded eight fouls in the game.
“I think in a game like that, against U of T, we’re definitely going to be a more physical team,” Loney said. “I thought the initial cards we took in the game, that’s part of the game, that’s tackles, that’s fair.”
“We got baited a little, some of the U of T players embellishing, maybe, where they shouldn’t have, and I think we lost a bit of control,” he said.
The Varsity Blues opened the scoring in the 70th minute, when a free kick from Nikolay Saveliev found Delano Capobianco in the box.
But the lead wouldn’t last, as Lovemore-White evened the game for Carleton six minutes later by guiding the ball into the bottom right corner of the net after it took a friendly bounce in the box.
The following day, the Ravens sought vengeance against a Rams team that knocked them out of the Ontario University Athletics playoffs last season.
The Rams opened the scoring in the 33rd minute, when forward Luka Lee took possession of the ball close to the sidelines on the counter-attack. Ravens forward Tim Campos was forced to take a hard foul in the box, which allowed Rams midfielder Raheem Rose to score on the ensuing penalty.
Robert Boskovic added to the Rams’ lead in the 60th minute, before substitute Jamie Baker added two goals in the final 10 minutes to put the game out of reach.
Ravens defender Julian Piccioli scored on a penalty in the 88th minute to get the Ravens on the board before the final whistle.
“You play a U of T, you play a Ryerson, you kinda know it’s a measuring stick going into the season,” Loney said. “[We’ve] had a lot of changes in the squad, obviously a change in coaching staff, so you’re trying to find out where you are.”
