He’s just 21 years old, but Melbourne Mustangs goaltender Fraser Carson already has a hockey resume most goaltenders would be proud of.
Carson has played five AIHL seasons for the Mustangs, making his debut at just 16 years of age, and his current resume boasts 62 games for 36 wins and one Goodall Cup championship in 2014.
He has also played for Australia, through U18’s, U20’s and after being the backup for the senior men’s team in 2014, Carson was handed the main job for Australia when Anthony Kimlin was injured on the eve of the World Championships.
Carson has registered an impressive 3.19 career goals-against average and a .881 save percentage in his 62 games, with the most recent of his four career shutouts coming against the high-flying Perth Thunder on Saturday night.
Mustangs head coach Brad Vigon saved high praise for his young goaltender post-match in Perth.
“He was amazing; that’s probably the best game I’ve seen him play,” Vigon said. “He made some huge saves that could’ve swung the momentum and allow them to climb back into it so we’re really fortunate that Fraser was on his game.”
The Mustangs are defying their sluggish start to the season with a late push for the AIHL finals, thanks mostly to the economical play of Carson.
The Mustangs had a five-game win streak snapped in a tough shootout loss to the Adelaide Adrenaline on Sunday night, a stretch over which Carson saved 104 of 110 shots against him for a 0.945 save percentage and an incredible 1.59 goals-against average.
But Carson refuses to take sole credit for his incredible run.
“The boys make it easy at times,” Carson said. “We’ve been trying to work harder in our defensive end and that’s showing. That’s something we’ve been working on all year long; it worked for us last year and we’ve been trying to get back to that. Earlier this year we struggled a little bit but it’s coming together for us so we’re really focusing on that.”
The Mustangs hope of making the AIHL finals and being able to defend their championship may rest upon the youthful shoulders of Carson, but the young goaltender says his team isn’t feeling any pressure.
“The boys are having fun, just having a lot of fun,” Carson said.
With only five games left, it's clear the defending champions are going just enjoy their hockey and do all they can to try to sneak into the 2015 AIHL Finals.