February 28, 2016

Zion OT-winner sends Ravens to OUA East division final in 3-2 Game 2 victory

(OTTAWA, ON) — A top-shelf overtime snipe from fifth-year senior Mitch Zion (Manotick, ON) blew the roof off the Carleton Ice House on Saturday night, as Zion’s goal at 5:59 of the extra frame gave Carleton a 3-2 win in Game 2 to sweep the McGill Redmen in their round two OUA East playoff series.

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(Photo: Marc Lafleur)

(OTTAWA, ON) — A top-shelf overtime snipe from fifth-year senior Mitch Zion (Manotick, ON) blew the roof off the Carleton Ice House on Saturday night, as Zion's goal at 5:59 of the extra frame gave Carleton a 3-2 win in Game 2 to sweep the McGill Redmen in their round two OUA East playoff series.

"We've faced McGill quite a few times in the playoffs, and have never come out on the right end, so it's nice to finally get one over them," said Ravens head coach Marty Johnston, for whom the win marks his program's first playoff series victory over an OUA East powerhouse. "Today we have to enjoy this, these guys—the leadership group—have gone through a lot of heartbreak in the last two-three years, to see them come out on top is special."

Carleton built up a 2-0 lead courtesy of a pair of pretty Ryan Van Stralen (Prescott, ON) goals. The assistant captain opened the scoring late in the second period with a one-timer off a fantastic Mike McNamee (Perth, ON) feed, and doubled the lead halfway through the third on a fantastic individual wraparound effort.

All appeared smooth for the Ravens at that point, leading by two with ten minutes to go against a hurting McGill team. But—as is often the case come late-February in the OUA—nothing comes easy.

Goals from Dan Milne and David Rose just 91 seconds apart drew the surging Redmen level, but the Ravens were gifted an opportunity late to win the game in regulation. With 1:09 remaining in period three, the officials deemed McGill defenceman Francis Lambert-Lemay knocked his own net off its moorings intentionally; Carleton forward Brent Norris stepped up for the ensuing penalty shot, only to be denied by McGill tendy Jacob Gervais-Chouinard.

Carleton then began overtime with a critical penalty kill which featured a number of key blocked shots and clearances.

A few moments later, it was Zion's time to shine. Taking a feed in the neutral zone, Zion cut up the left wing before rifling a picture-perfect shot past Gervais-Chouinard to send the Ravens onto round three.

"It's tough to put into words," said Zion, who transferred from Clarkson University. "It's four or five years in the making, we're pretty pumped."

Francis Dupuis (Ottawa, ON) picked up the win between the pipes for Carleton with a 35-save performance which included a number of key stops down the stretch.

"I'm just happy that I was able to make those saves for the boys," said Dupuis, who previously won an RBC Cup with the Pembroke Lumber Kings. "We did a really good job of relaxing, when they gained the momentum we just got it back—the guys pulled through."

Carleton will now move to a divisional final against the UQTR Patriotes, with Game 1 likely to be played midweek in Ottawa.

Source: Carleton Ravens