ABOVE: Lloyd Pandi announced his decision to leave Carleton at the end of the season and declare for the NBA draft. (Photo: Valeri Wutti/Carleton Ravens Athletics)
Your weekly round-up of sports in Ottawa for April 18-April 24, 2022.
The 67’s opened its first-round playoff series against the North Bay Battalion with a pair of losses on the road. North Bay’s regular season goal-scoring leader Mitchell Russell opened the scoring in game one with a powerplay marker in the second period. Jack Beck tied the game for Ottawa with a shorthanded goal early in the third period, but Russell answered back with the eventual game-winner less than three minutes later. The Battalion added a pair of goals to take game one, 4-1.
Game two featured a high-scoring back-and-forth affair. Russell opened the scoring for North Bay in the first period, but a strong response from Ottawa saw the visitors take a 3-1 lead. However, North Bay notched a pair to tie the game 3-3 in the first intermission. Both sides traded goals in the second period to enter the third in a 5-5 tie. Luca Pinelli put the 67’s ahead just over five minutes into the third period, but Battalion leading point-scorer Brandon Coe equalized with four minutes remaining. Coe found another goal with three seconds left in the game to snatch a late 7-6 victory for the Battalion. 2022 NHL-draft eligible forward Vinzenz Rohrer had three assists for Ottawa in the game.
Ottawa will look to chip away at the 2-0 series deficit when it returns to TD Place for Game 3 (Apr. 25) and Game 4 (Apr. 27).
Men’s basketball forward Guillaume Pepin will return to the CEBL’s Ottawa BlackJacks for a second season after being selected 16th overall in the 2022 CEBL-U Sports Draft. The 23-year-old was also drafted by the BlackJacks in 2021 and featured in one game – a quarter-final playoff victory over Hamilton in which he tallied eight points and five rebounds. Pepin returned to the Gee-Gees for the 2021-22 season, earning an OUA East First Team All-Star nod while averaging 15.8 points per game.
Rose-Anne Joly – appointed interim head coach of women’s basketball in June 2021 – has been named an assistant coach of CEBL outfit Montreal Alliance ahead of its inaugural season. She will oversee player development and data analysis. Joly had a brief career as a player with the Gee-Gees before a knee injury ended her playing career prematurely. Joly was an assistant coach with the Gee-Gees from 2017-to 2020 and served as a coach and operations coordinator at the NBA Basketball School in Dubai in 2020 and 2021.
Men’s basketball guards Alain Louis and Lloyd Pandi were selected in the first round of the 2022 CEBL-U Sports Draft.
Pandi – selected ninth overall by the Niagara River Lions – was named U Sports Player of the Year for the 2021-22 season. Pandi has been drafted twice previously, by Ottawa in 2020 and Niagara in 2021, and was awarded CEBL U Sports Player of the Year in both seasons. The 22-year-old announced his decision to leave Carleton at the end of the season and declare for the NBA draft.
Louis – selected second overall by the Montreal Alliance – earned U Sports Finals MVP as the Ravens captured the national championship. Louis was drafted 15th overall by the BlackJacks in 2020 but made his CEBL debut for the team in 2021. Louis appeared in 15 games for Ottawa in 2021 – starting eight – while averaging 7.2 points per game and 22 minutes.
Rugby forward Lauryn Walker was named to the Jamaican rugby sevens national team for a tournament as the country aims to qualify for the 2022 Rugby Sevens World Cup and the 2022 Commonwealth Games. Walker tied for the Ravens’ team lead in tries in 2021 with seven.
The Titans continue to add to its roster, looking towards the first day of spring training on April 28th. The team added pitchers Tyler Jandron, Nelson Gonzalez, Jack Alkire, and Kevin Escorcia. Four infielders were among the additions as well, with Sicnarf Loopstok, Luke Navigato, Clay Fisher, and David Maberry joining the team. Ottawa also added to its depth behind the plate, signing catcher Ty Greene.
