The University of Toronto men’s water polo, composed almost entirely of Toronto Golden Jets players, won its second consecutive OUA championship by defeating Carleton 5-3 in Ottawa.
With the championship being held at Carleton, the final took on a decidedly different complexion than last year’s final which the Blues won in convincing fashion 7-0. This time, the Ravens, spurred on by a boisterous home crowd, opened the scoring late in the first quarter to take an early lead and erase any possibility of a repeat shutout loss.
The Ravens doubled the lead early in the second quarter. The 0-2 deficit appeared to wake up the moribund Blues attack and the Blues went off on a 4-0 run to finish the half ahead 4-2.
Carleton closed to within one in the third quarter but the Blues, on the power play, restored the two goal margin near the end of the third quarter.
Neither team could generate a goal as Blues standout goalie and co-captain Emirhan Ozdemir (Istanbul, Turkey) saved his finest work for the last quarter to ensure the win. Co-captain Sukhmun Hare (Vancouver) led the scoring with two blistering outside shots while single tallies came from Stefan Mitic (Toronto) on the counterattack, Abdelrahmann Said (Cairo, Egypt) on the power play and Marko Avdalovic (Toronto) from the center forward slot.
Ozdemir was named the outsdtanding goalie and was joined on the All-Star team by Milos Radojcic (Toronto) and Euan Scoffield (Ottawa).
It marks the first time the Blues have won consecutive provincial titles since claiming three in a row from 2008-10. U of T wins their 11th OUA title in the past 16 years and 32nd overall in program history.