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Watch highlight clips from Saturday’s Carleton Ravens game vs Toronto Varsity Blues here.
By Dan Plouffe
It was an up-and-down weekend for the Carleton Ravens men’s soccer team, but as they rose from a 1-0 deficit to beat the Ryerson Rams 3-2 on Sunday, the Ravens clinched the Ontario University Athletics regular season title.
“We’ve been able to score goals,” notes Carleton coach Sandy Mackie, highlighting the simple key to success for his club that boasts numerous talented rookies. “If they show up, they can play with anybody.”
The problem for Mackie was that his team “didn’t show up” for its Saturday contest against second-place Toronto and wound up with a 1-0 defeat.
“They came out with their ‘A’ game and we had our ‘B’ game,” summarized striker Andrew Latty of Ottawa, who played the first half at striker before being substituted off to rest a hamstring injury. “We can beat them. We came out overconfident and it showed on the pitch.”
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Veteran Ottawa natives Josh Dewar-Morris and Danny Gutierrez lifted the Ravens to victory the next day with the game-tying and winning goals against Ryerson, which gave Carleton a first-round playoff bye and a home quarter-final date on Sunday, Oct. 30.
“We’ve gelled together as a team off the field really well,” noted rookie Ravens defender Michael Calof, a former Ottawa South United player. “Chemistry is solid. Our training sessions are 100 %, go go go.”
Carleton scored 41 goals in 14 games this season en route to an 11-3 regular season record to finish one point ahead of the Toronto Varsity Blues.
The University of Ottawa Gee-Gees pulled off a pair of big 3-0 shutout victories over Ryerson and Toronto to leapfrog the Varsity Blues into second place in OUA women’s soccer.
The Carleton women earned home-field advantage for their playoff matchup on Wednesday against Laurentian, while the Gee-Gees receive a first-round bye and will host an elimination game on Oct. 30.
Look for more coverage Thursday on SportsOttawa.com and in Ottawa This Week community newspaper.
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