OTTAWA, ON – While a lot of attention on Carleton’s campus was focused on the field at the Raven’s Pitch for the 2021 U SPORTS Men’s National Soccer Championship, there were still other sports to be played on Thursday night. In their second matchup following a 3-2 shootout win at the Gee-Gees home opener, the Ravens and Ottawa Gee-Gee’s men’s hockey teams began a home and home with the first game being played at the Ice House.
The matchup saw two first-year goalies take to the ice. Ottawa’s Tristan Berube, recruited to the Gee-Gees from the Acadie-Bathurst Titan of the QMJHL took to the ice in one net while Carleton’s Cole McLaren – who came to the team via the Kingston Frontenacs of the OHL took to the other.
Both played great in the first period, but midway through the first an odd-man rush saw Carleton gain offensive zone entry and get traffic in front of Berube, allowing Sam Meisenheimer to score on the net mouth scramble.
A couple minutes later Carleton’s first powerplay of the night was successful. Starting with a won faceoff which allowed the Ravens to generate traffic in front of Berube and get set up quickly, a shot on net created another net mouth scramble as the Ravens kept jamming away at it, and Brogan O’Brien eventually tapped home the puck to increase the lead to 2-0.
Shortly after, the Gee-Gee’s looked for a response with a two-on-one, but excellent positioning to stay square to the shooter and rebound control to deflect the rebound to one of the defenders helped Cole McLaren keep the puck out.
The first period solid special teams would continue for the Ravens as Brogan O’Brien would get a shorthanded breakaway and deke out the goalie to put the Ravens up 3-0. Carleton’s dominance on special teams wouldn’t stop there because a faceoff violation penalty gave the Ravens a 5-on-3, and Aaron Boyd would score to make it 4-0.
The night for Tristan Berube would be done after the first period as Anand Oberoi took to the crease in the second period.
The first shot he faced was a setup pass from Aidan Castleman to Cole Carter. Oberoi who got a piece of it but not enough as it found the back of the net to make it 5-0 Ravens.
If Ottawa is looking for positives to take into their next game. They should look towards Oberoi, who stopped Ryker Cole on a breakaway and only allowed one goal through 40 minutes.
Ottawa would ruin the shutout bid for McLaren as on an ensuing rush, Bradley Chenier would score to make it 5-1 before Jeremy Masella hit the empty net from his goal line to give the Ravens the eventual 6-1 win.
Despite the big win, Head Coach Shaun van Allen wants his roster to keep working on defending larger leads.
“It’s not easy, but that’s when bad habits creep in, and that’s when you start to lose because guys start cheating [offensively] because they don’t have a point and they think they got to score. So it’s just a matter of staying within the system, playing better defensively.” van Allen said.
The Carleton Raven’s Men’s Soccer wild victory over UBC may have been the story of the night on Carleton campus, but the Raven’s hockey’s quietly dominant performance at the Ice House on Thursday proved there is another Carleton team that should be given notice.
Pags’ Points
- Special Teams. Carleton got the majority of their offence through the powerplay and penalty kill. It was a fantastic night for the Ravens’ special teams, as they are looking to improve as the season continues.
- Cole McLaren. The first-year goalie played so well positionally as he directed all the rebounds away from the traffic. The Ravens defence also gave McLaren clean looks as they boxed out the front of the net well.
- Domination. Carleton scored on their first powerplay, and they wouldn’t look back as they dominated in all facets of the game and didn’t allow Ottawa to set up in the offensive zone.
Cover Photo: Marc Lafleur/Carleton Athletics