CIS Corner: Andrew Latty leads Carleton Ravens into soccer playoffs

In his 20 years as the Carleton Ravens head coach Sandy Mackie has seen his fair share of players take to the pitch for the school's men's soccer team. And though he doesn't like singling out individuals in a team sport, he considers Andrew Latty to be one of the top strikers he's ever coached.

With 17 goals for the Ravens this season the 23-year-old Latty shattered Carleton's single-season goal record previously held by Marc Lapointe who scored 12 times in the 2002-2003 season.

"Lapointe was your classic striker, he knew where to be where as Andrew creates a lot of the chances himself," Mackie said. "He gives defenders a lot of problems with his physical attributes and his speed. [Lapointe's] record stood for the last 10 or 12 years [so to break it] is an accomplishment."

If he's able to keep up or build on the offensive pace he set this season, by the end of his tenure with the Ravens Latty could be the school's all-time leading scorer. According to a story published on the Ravens website last week, Lapointe currently holds the record with 45 goals in 43 games.

Latty already has 25 goals and it's only his second season with the team. While he's in his final year of undergraduate studies, the Ottawa native didn't join the Ravens until last year as he had been focusing on his academics and a job he carried outside of school at the time. Meaning should everything go according to plan -- he has hopes of going to law school or pursuing other post graduate studies at Carleton -- Latty could still play another three seasons with the Ravens according the five-year CIS eligibility rule.

His first year playing at Carleton didn't bring the same type of historic success that this season has though. A hamstring injury forced him to miss portions of games late in the year and Mackie admits that because of it, Latty was unable to meet the expectations that were set out for him prior to the season.

"We lost in a Final Four playoff game last year and had a few key players hurt, Andrew being one of them and so he didn't really make his potential," Mackie said. "We spoke to him and said you're gonna come back next year, you can be successful in this league, but you've got to come in fit. It's not just a 12-14 week program.

"You've got to be training over the winter and hopefully over the summer too. And he's come in fit this year with a good attitude and he's done really well."

Now he's not only the most dangerous offensive threat on the Ravens, but arguably the most dynamic soccer player in all of Canadian Interuniversity Sport. Adrian Pena of York University is the only other player in all of the CIS to match Latty's goal total from this season and he played three more games than the Ravens striker.

Latty says he could have never expected this type of success.

"Last year was my first year on the team," he said. "I looked at players that were in front of me and I saw their style of play and how they were scoring goals ... Its something you dream about for sure, but I could not have told you that I was going to come into this year and score as many goals as I have."

He knows all the regular season success has to be put behind him now though as the Ravens get set to take the field against the Ryerson Rams on Sunday with the winner earning a spot in the OUA Final Four. And as the top scorer and one of the leaders of the Ravens, Latty knows the pressure will be on.

"Of course [there's pressure] but I take it with great honour," he said. "These are the games that you play for."