Carleton Is Off to Nationals!!!

1984 – Carleton (Silver – at home, losing in the final vs. UBC)

1999 – UVIC  (Finished 5th – team with many rookies similar to 2017)

2002 – Carleton (Silver – at home, losing the final in double OT 1-0)

2005 – UPEI  (Winning OUA but losing OUA striker Dewar-Morris to a broken femur, lost in Consolation game)

2008 – Carleton (Consolation at Home – lost 1^st game to Laurier)

2012 – Univerité de Laval (Finished 6th)

The first half was a tight affair that saw both teams feel each other out, not willing to commit too many men forward and give up an early goal. Despite being outnumbered by the McMaster fans, a strong contingent of GTA Ravens alumni made their voices heard.

Ricky Comba started things off in the 52nd minute, finishing off an impressive period of possession for the Ravens that had some alumni asking if they were watching Barcelona. This turned out to be the winning goal, thanks to a classy assist from Stefan Karajovanovic.

Seventeen minutes later, super freshman Gabriel Bitar, the OUA East’s most valuable player and rookie of the year, scored his first of two in the game as an insurance marker for the Ravens. Just minutes before the final whistle he was at it again, leaving the McMaster back line for dead with a skillful step over before sliding the ball into the net from a difficult angle to round out the scoring. The team was joined on field by the alumni, family and friends to congratulate the boys on another trip to the promised land.

Carleton was to play host’s York after they gave Ryerson their first defeat all season in pk’s.  In a freezing wind, the conditions were far from ideal and much of the game reflected that. Combined with both teams efforts in their respective semi-final, the game was played mainly in the midfield and always looked like it would be decided by a goal or two. The GTA alumni (Toronto Chapter) were again up against a larger crowd but once again were the loudest, signing in the rain, freezing in the wind!

Both teams had scoring chances in the first half but none of them were particularly dangerous until just seconds before the end of the first 45 minutes. With time ticking down and the Lions in Carleton’s end, Joey Cicchillo (an alumni target) made a great one-on-one play to take possession of the ball. He passed it to old man Jonathan Lao (who is surely in his last year of eligibility) in the middle of the field, who turned and passed it to a streaking Dylan Carreiro coming up the left wing. Carreiro made a nifty move and then fired the ball into the bottom right corner of the net to give the Lions a 1-0 lead at the half. It was a harsh way to end the half and far from deserved.

The Lions came out of the break flying and forced Carleton goalkeeper Nick Jeffs to make a pair of saves in the first 10 minutes.  As Carleton was pushing forward to try and equalize, the Lions got the insurance marker they were seeking. Jeffs came out to the top of the box to try and stop the breakaway, but the York player tapped the ball around him and then fired it into a wide-open net for the second goal.  As time wound down the Ravens pressed for a goal, but the Lions’ stout defence cleared numerous shots from the box and goalkeeper Quillan Roberts was forced to make just one save in the second half. He made five total for the game, while Jeffs stopped four. The Ravens will have a lot of positives to take out of the weekend and look a strong contender for a National Championship. They showed that they could compete with York and hopefully we get another crack at them in BC.

*Cheers to all the Toronto area Alumni who were out at the games and made their presence and support known!!!!  Best supporters in the country!!

See below for the schedule.  Keep an eye on the scores and depending on how well the boys do we will be organizing watching parties for alumni, family and friends – Stay Tuned!!!!!!!

Thursday, November 9 – Competition Day 1 [Times may be adjusted in finalizing the event, consideration being given to time zones and TV]

11am – Quarter-final #1 – UBC vs UNB

1:30pm – Quarter-final #2 – Montreal vs Carleton (local time / 16:30 Ottawa Time)

5pm – Quarter-final #3 – York vs Thompson Rivers

7pm – Opening Ceremonies, before start of Quarter-final #4

7:30pm – Quarter-final #4 – Cape Breton vs UQAM

11am – Consolation Semi-final #1

1:30pm – Consolation Semi-final #2

5pm – Championship Semi-final #1

7:30pm – Championship Semi-final #2

1:30pm – Consolation Final (5th place game)

3:30 pm – Okanagan Valley Sport Athletic Association (OVSAA) High School All-Star Game

11am – Bronze Medal Game

2:00 pm – Gold Medal Game

Many thanks to all those who made the Breakfast last Thursday morning.   It was a great opportunity to hear from Head Coach Kwesi Loney as the team headed into the OUA Final Four and to hear how grateful he is for all that the alumni do and provide to the program. We learned more about the Ravens Soccer ’82 Club initiative from Sandy Mackie and our Carleton Men’s Soccer Alumni Association (CSAA) executive. We will have a separate email on this shortly in pursue to get 82 people to commit to $100 a year over the next 4 years.  We hope everyone will donate on 28 November so that we can take advantage of the schools matching funds.  Stay Tuned!

The OUA has announced the 2017 Men’s Soccer All-Stars and Award Winners. Ravens took home East Division Coach of the Year, Most Valuable Player and Rookie of the Year awards, while six Ravens players have also been named OUA All-Stars this year following an impressive 13-1-2 regular season that saw Carleton finish in first place in the East Division.

In his second year as head coach, Loney has been awarded OUA East Division Coach of the Year. The former All-Canadian and captain of the Ravens from 2000-2002 lead the 2017 Ravens to a tremendous regular season that saw Carleton ranked in the U SPORTS Top 10 for six weeks straight throughout the campaign. His team set multiple 16-game regular season schedule program records. Loney has played a crucial role in recruiting the strong young core that makes up the majority of the starting lineup and it’s the first time Carleton has had six all-stars since 2008 – five of which were rookies. With all six earning First-Team honours, it’s the highest number of First-Team All-Stars in program history. This is Loney’s first OUA award and Carleton’s first COY award since 2014 when Sandy Mackie took home the prize.

Rookie sensation Gabriel Bitar has been named East Division Most Valuable Player and Rookie of the Year following a magnificent season powering an OUA-best Carleton offence. The 5-foot-9 first-year striker dazzled with tremendous demonstrations of skill all season, stifling defender after defender en route to his U SPORTS best 16 goals on the season. With six game-winning goals to his name, Bitar was also named a First-Team All-Star to open his career as a Raven. Carleton’s last MVP award was won by Andrew Latty in 2012 and its last ROY was awarded to Javier Robles in 2008. It’s also the first time a Raven has won both ROY and MVP in program history.

Carleton and U SPORTS’s points leader, Stefan Karajovanovic, has been named a First-Team All-Star after a stellar season up front for the Ravens. The 5-foot-9 rookie striker tallied 15 goals and 4 assists, highlighted by a four-goal performance against the Trent Excalibur in the second game of the season. The criminology and criminal justice student was clinical with his head throughout the campaign, often fueling onslaughts. His magical touch was exemplified in the Ravens’ 2-1 comeback victory over the Nipissing Lakers when he played hero, tallying back-to-back header goals in the final minutes of the game. Karajovanovic finished tied for second in goals scored.

Conte, a 5-foot-8 midfielder, earned a First-Team All-Star selection in 2017. As one of five first-year Ravens all-stars, the economics student played a key role in the heart of Carleton’s young core. He contributed 3 goals and 3 assists to the eastern-championship squad, helping create many crucial plays from midfield. Kicking off his playoff career, he buried a marvelous 30-yard strike in Carleton’s 7-0 quarterfinal win over UOIT – his first of two on the afternoon. Conte played in 13 of 16 games en route to his first OUA award.

A leader on and off the field, `TSP`  has been named an OUA First-Team All-Star. In his first year as captain of the Ravens, the 6-foot fourth-year midfielder played in 14 of 16 games and was instrumental in contributing to the team’s success. He scored his first goal of the year in the quarterfinals against UOIT where he sniped the pivotal second goal of the game that opened the floodgates.

Malekos, 6-foot-2 defender, has been named an OUA First-Team All-Star in his first season. The commerce student tallied 2 goals on the season but it was his tremendous defence that helped lead Carleton to the fewest goals against in the conference. He was a force to be reckoned with in Carleton’s back third and rarely did opposing players get past his impenetrable defending.

Rounding out Carleton’s monstrous six First-Team All-Stars is recruit Diego Politis. The attack-minded full back was consistently reliable in Carleton’s back third. He was an immovable force in a strong Ravens defence that persistently protected the box at all costs. The 5-foot-10 engineering student scored his first goal of the year in the quarterfinals against UOIT. He dispatched a rocket on a penalty kick into the top right corner to seal the 7-0 victory.

Congrats Gents on making it to Nationals!  Your destiny is in your own hands.  DO NOT take this moment and opportunity for granted – you may not ever get the opportunity to compete to be a National Champion again!  Enjoy the moment, take it all in – and most of all – give 110% effort and make us proud!  We’ll be watching and cheering you on from home and awaiting you for the victory party!  FOCUS & DO IT!!!!!!!

KAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY KAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!