Ottawa, Ont. - The Carleton University Ravens men’s soccer team went all the way to penalty kicks before losing to the McMaster University Marauders in OUA semifinal action on Saturday at Ravens’ Field.
In a case of history repeating itself, the Ravens had fallen to the Marauders in the OUA semifinals back in 2009 on penalty kicks.
The game started very evenly, with both teams not eager to commit too many players forward.
The Marauders opened the scoring in the seventh minute with Mark Reilly (Hamilton, Ont.) grabbing his first goal of the game. The Marauders had broken down the right wing and the chipped cross found Reilly in space and he buried the shot past Ravens goalie Mark Krocko (Ashton, Ont.).
The Ravens, stung by the early goal, were put on the back foot as they struggled to deal with McMaster’s offence. Reilly had a chance to double the Marauders’ lead just over fifteen minutes later as he found himself in space in the 18-yard box, only to see his shot saved by the onrushing Krocko.
The Ravens started to find their feet as the half wore on, pressuring McMaster’s goal with shots from distance. Josh Dewar-Morris (Ottawa) tied the game in the 31st minute off a beautiful shot as he grabbed his first goal of the playoffs. He took the ball from over 20 yards out and hit a curling left footed shot that the goalie could only push farther in to the top corner.
With the Ravens pressuring, halftime came as an unwanted interference.
The second half started with more attacking flair, but still very even. The Marauders thought they had taken the lead in the 63rd minute only to see the linesman’s flag disallow the goal for offside. While some of the Marauders started celebrating, the Ravens took the ball down the field and saw their shot go just wide of the goal post.
Carleton grabbed the lead two minutes later, in the 65th minute, with Sam McHugh (Russell, Ont.) getting his second goal of the playoffs. He took the ball 25 yards away from goal, beat a defender and unleashed a curling shot in to the top corner.
McMaster, showing why they are ranked second in the OUA West and seventh in the country, kept pressing and grabbed a last minute equalizer. Reilly popped up in the box in the 90th minute and saw his header beat Krocko to send the game to extra time.
The Ravens pressed hard for the winning goal in extra time but were unable to beat Marauders goalkeeper Matthew Grant (Brampton, Ont.).
The match went to penalty kicks. McHugh’s shot hit the crossbar for the Ravens. The Marauders buried all five of their shots to win 5-3 in penalties and book their ticket to the OUA championship game on Nov. 6 at 3 p.m against the Toronto Varsity Blues to win back their OUA title.
