The Carleton Ravens women’s rugby team is moving on to the Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ) semifinals after a narrow 7-0 win against the Concordia Stingers on Friday night.
This will be Carleton’s second trip to the RSEQ semifinals in program history after a breakout 2018 season ended with a 23-12 loss to the Laval Rouge et Or in the semifinals.
“This is obviously a huge win for us, especially with as young a program as us,” head coach David Luong said. “I think for a lot of the veteran players, this is their last chance at redemption from two [seasons] ago.”
With the win, the Ravens will play Laval on Saturday in the semifinals. The Ravens have won six matches in a row but will have their work cut out for them against Laval, who went undefeated in the regular season.
The Ravens started off the match strong, making several runs in the first half, but were consistently held up by the Stingers’ defence. By the end of the first half, the score was 0-0 with the Ravens held up on the goal line three times without a successful try.
Not long after the start of the second half, centre Lauryn Walker broke through the Stingers’ defence and put the Ravens on the scoreboard. After scrum half Roberta Drummond made the conversion, the Ravens led 7-0.
WRGBY | Ravens strike first! Lauryn Walker bulldozes her way into the end zone for a try #CARvsCON #RSEQPlayoffs
RAVENS – 7 | STINGERS – 0 pic.twitter.com/RB722MTRlm
— Carleton Ravens (@CURavens) October 23, 2021
The Ravens continued to play strong defence in the second half, keeping the Stingers at bay and maintaining their lead.
“We knew moving forward in the playoffs, we would be playing teams that would be close to our try line,” Luong said. “Being able to play that tough defence, putting your body on the line—I’m proud to say that [the players] all did and they knew what was at stake.”
When the final moments of the match against Concordia counted down, players, coaching staff and fans rushed the field to celebrate.
Don’t call it an upset! 😤 pic.twitter.com/r0p9C7r5YD
— Carleton Ravens (@CURavens) October 23, 2021
When it comes to facing the undefeated Laval in the semifinals, Luong said the team will be preparing in the same way they’ve prepared all season.
“We’ll continue to refine what we’ve been doing on our defence and our attack and look at ways to maybe exploit some weaknesses Laval might have,” Luong said. “We prepare each game, continue working on what we do well and make those small adjustments to make it even better.”
Luong said the coaching staff is “really proud” of the players and how the program has taken a step forward this year.
“It’s great for them to finally see the success of it,” Luong said. “I’m like a proud dad. I’m just so happy for all of them.”
Featured image provided by Kyran Thicke/Concordia Stingers.
