March 3, 2016

Ravens grounded by Patriotes in 4-1 OUA East Final Game 1 defeat

(TROIS-RIVIÈRES, QC) — Strong third period play and the hot hand of goaltender Francis Dupuis (Ottawa, ON) were not enough to lift the Carleton Ravens past the top-seeded UQTR Patriotes in Game 1 of the OUA East Final on Wednesday night, as the Ravens fell 4-1 on the road to the high-octane Pats.

UQTR

Carleton

Final

UQTR

Carleton

UQTR

Carleton

Final

UQTR

Carleton

(TROIS-RIVIÈRES, QC) — Strong third period play and the hot hand of goaltender Francis Dupuis (Ottawa, ON) were not enough to lift the Carleton Ravens past the top-seeded UQTR Patriotes in Game 1 of the OUA East Final on Wednesday night, as the Ravens fell 4-1 on the road to the high-octane Pats.

"We really have to find a 60-minute effort," said Ravens head coach Marty Johnston, whose team will now focus on Saturday and the challenge of staving off elimination in its quest for a first-ever Queen's Cup. "We had good stretches, I thought we were coming back in the third—we scored a goal, but the penalty the next shift really changed momentum."

The Ravens started out strong on the road in what turned into a cagey, checking battle in Trois-Rivières; Pats netminder Sebastien Auger was forced into a number of tricky saves, while Francis Dupuis stood tall for Carleton between the pipes.

A Pierre-Maxime Pourdrier short-handed goal opened the scoring for the hosts late in the second period; the feisty two-way forward forced a turnover off Ravens point man Jeremie Fraser (Cantley, QC) before barreling in on Dupuis and beating him with a slick move to the glove side.

Tommy Giroux then doubled the UQTR lead just 2:17 into period three, breaking his playoff goose-egg and seemingly putting the game to bed.

Carleton roared to life immediately after and three minutes later, Mitch Zion (Manotick, ON) redirected a Brent Norris (Ottawa, ON) point shot past Auger to cut the Ravens' deficit to one.

A penalty call on the very next shift against Carleton's Hayden Hulton (Kingston, ON) sent the Pats back to their top-ranked power play; Giroux converted with a wicked wrist shot for his second of the game, restoring UQTR's two-goal lead in the process.

Carl-Antoine Delisle added a late empty-netter for the Pats, who were the benefactors of six power plays to Carleton's three.

"It's tough—we really felt like we were coming on, coming back, and then that penalty and power play goal really killed it," said Ravens goalscorer Mitch Zion post-game. "We've just got to focus on coming out hard and playing our game on Saturday, really taking it to these guys."

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A large crowd is expected for Saturday's Game 2, which will feature more than 35 former major-junior players and two of the top six teams in the country. Be there to push your Ravens as they look to extend their Queen's Cup campaign!

Source: Carleton Ravens