Ravens at Mid-point of 2009 CUFLA Season

by Ted Montour

1 October 2009 – With their 2009 season in the Canadian University Field Lacrosse Association (CUFLA) half-completed, the Carleton Ravens men’s lacrosse club has already surpassed their 2008 successes, with a record of three wins and two losses. They are currently shown in fourth place in CUFLA East, with the same number of wins as second-place McGill and third-place Trent, but one more loss.

After their opening week-end split with the Bishop’s University Gaiters, the Ravens have gone on to post victories over the University of Toronto (13-9) and Queen’s University (11-7), against a 12-6 home loss to Trent. Over this three-game stretch, several individual Ravens have distinguished themselves. Attackman Corey Fowler leads all CUFLA scorers with 13 goals and 10 assists; attacker Tim Bergin sits 6^th (10g, 8a), midfielder Captain Rajinder Wasson 10^th (13g, 4a), and midfielder Shane Davidson 15^th (7g, 8a). Fowler and Wasson share the goal-scoring lead with Mike Dubé of Bishop’s and McMaster’s Carter Williams; no other team has four players in the Top 20 point-getters.

Starting goaltender Captain James Drake is one of only two CUFLA ‘keepers’ to have logged 400 minutes, and his goals-against average of 9.8 put him 15^th in the Association, but if there was a statistic for big saves, he would be at the top of the column. Carleton’s veteran defenders, including Captain Wayne Punchak, David Magee and Jeremy Strong (just returning from a serious off-season ankle injury), plus newcomers Scott Stevens and long-stick midfielder Ryan MacDonald have consistently distinguished themselves. Captain Tom Acton (midfield / attack) and Anders Houser (midfield/attack/defense) do whatever has been asked of them.

Carleton’s remaining schedule is heavy on road trips, and includes two games against McGill, with just one home game (McGill) remaining, Wednesday night, 7 October at 8:30 p.m. at Ravens Road Field.
 
Ravens' next game is in Montreal this Sunday 4 October at 2:00 p.m. versus a McGill squad that has dressed 39 players over their first four games, and already scored an East-leading 57 goals while allowing just 27 against.

The Ravens will host the CUFLA championship Baggattaway Cup ‘Final Four’, Saturday and Sunday, 7 – 8 November, in the nation's capital, at Keith Harris Stadium.