The season home opener for the Carleton Ravens women’s hockey team against the Brock Badgers on Oct. 11 was far from a regular game.
The Ravens’ statement 5-2 victory OUA debut created some much-deserved anticipation for the season ahead.
Since the 2001-02 season, Carleton played in the Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ), which primarily consists of Quebec university teams. The highly competitive league has yielded high-end talent including Audrey-Anne Veillette, who was drafted by the PWHL’s Ottawa Charge.
RSEQ has also been unkind to the Ravens, who finished last in 12 out of 22 seasons and never higher than third. They earned just one win in their first five seasons and compiled an all-time regular season record of 92-300-31.
To start the season with a win is refreshing, to say the least.
“Feeling the energy from the team and everyone else cheering [after] finally hitting that first goal, [it] opens the floodgates for everyone else,” said Ravens forward Hayden Serniuk.
Serniuk scored the Ravens’ first goal of the season just four minutes into the first period. The energy from the home bench was tangible during the whole game, but something ignited after that first goal. Her opening strike was a strong indication the Ravens were looking to prove they belong in the OUA.
The Ravens did just that throughout the opening period as they continuously pressured Brock in their own zone.
But the Badgers overtook the Ravens’ lead in the second period as the Badgers notched two power-play goals early in the frame. As momentum shifted in favour of the Badgers, the Ravens needed a big play.
“Momentum is huge,” said Ravens head coach Stacey Colarossi. “You can win and lose games on momentum.”
The response came from Ravens captain Justina Beard. Her goal afforded the Ravens some much-needed confidence to push through the rest of the game.
Only a few minutes later, defender Miller scored an explosive power-play goal of her own for the Ravens to take a 3-2 lead.
Hayden makes history!
Serniuk makes it 1-0 Ravens with our first @OUAsport goal! pic.twitter.com/JjtYEfzhhm
— Carleton Ravens (@CURavens) October 11, 2024
“I just saw an open lane and took what I had … and saw the goalie that couldn’t see much and just picked the corner and went for it,” Miller recalled.
Heading into the third period, the Ravens were buzzing after reclaiming the lead in the middle frame. Their vocal cheers and tenacity on the ice couldn’t be ignored.
Halfway through the period, Carleton showed, once more that they were there to win. Miller found her second goal of the game on a power play for a two-goal lead.
The Ravens were cycling between only five defenders, so a big step-up from Miller was exactly what the team needed to succeed. Carleton’s offensive contributions from the back end were augmented by defender Nicole Hunter, who scored late in the third frame to bring the Ravens’ goal total to five.
Rookie goaltender Kaitlyn Langille also stepped up, stopping 24 of 26 shots. Colarossi praised Langille for her focus and poise in a challenging first game at the university level.
Langille played for the AAA Bussey Penguins of the Nova Scotia Female Hockey League last season before committing to the Ravens.
“[Langeville] ate everything up,” Colarossi said. “We asked her to slow the game down for us in our D-zone and I think she did a great job. As a first-year, it’s a lot of weight on her shoulders.”
“I was just happy that we made a huge splash into the OUA,” Miller said.
Carleton did not leave room for interpretation in their first game. They came out strong and ready to conquer the OUA this season.
The result was no surprise to goaltender Allie Lehmann, who played for the Ravens in the 2018-19 and 2019-20 RSEQ seasons. Lehmann now tends the crease for the HC Fribourg-Gottéron Ladies in the Swiss Women’s Hockey League.
“They’re crushing it,” Lehmann said. “We’ve all known that it’s like, ‘this RSEQ, we gotta get out of there.’”
The fresh start in the OUA is presenting new opportunities for the Ravens, who are eager to experience success on the ice.
“The players are invigorated, everything’s new and … it’s a really electric group,” Colarossi said.
Since the electric home opener, Carleton have recorded four losses and one victory against the Western Mustangs on Oct. 25. Despite a losing record of 2-5, the Ravens’ high-flying home opener proved they have plenty of potential to work with throughout their first OUA season.
Featured photo by Marc Lafleur / Carleton Ravens
With files from Janson Duench
