Ten minutes was all the Carleton Ravens women’s soccer team needed for offense on Friday night, scoring three goals in that span to come back and stun the Ottawa GeeGees 3-2 at TAAG Park.
Down two at halftime, the Ravens rallied back in the last 45 minutes to take down their crosstown rivals in the first game of their home-and-home series.
“I didn’t think we played very well in the first half … we played their style and to their tempo,” head coach Dom Oliveri said after the game. “The second half, we did a much better job of playing our game and the way we wanted to play.”
The Ravens came out flat, an uncharacteristic start for the squad who was riding two consecutive shutout wins heading into the game.
Carleton conceded early after a GeeGees deflected cross found a wide open Erica Tsang, who made no mistake to open a 1-0 lead.
Ottawa continued to control play through the first half — holding the Ravens to the exterior and shutting down any attempts to generate momentum.
Thanks to many corner kicks giving the Ravens a little spark, it looked like the home team had a chance to tie things up towards the end of the first half. However, a GeeGees rush in extra time earned them a corner kick of their own.
And right before halftime, the hole was dug a little deeper for Carleton, as Ottawa’s Gracie Somers doubled the lead after an error on the corner kick from Ravens goalkeeper Chloe Lachance-Soula, who punched the ball into her own net.
“We started off in the first half not too good, but the big thing Dom [Oliveri] preaches to us all the time is resilience,” captain Mikayla Moser said after the game.
“We’re down two nothing — that’s a really hard lead to come back to.”
Carleton regained their groove in the second half, cutting the lead in half after Ava Mills’s cross found Lauren Illman wide open in the box. The forward connection ended with Illman heading the ball in for her fourth of the season in the 56th minute.
“A great performance from a veteran player, and we need that from all our vets this year,” Oliveri said of Illman. “She’s done a lot of good things all season.”
Mills and Illman are driving forces behind the Ravens’ goalscoring this season. The pair have combined for nine of the 14 goals for the team this season.
And Illman wasn’t done there.
In the 63rd minute, Moser drove along the wing before sending a cross that found Illman again, who tracked down the loose ball and hammered it into the top corner to tie the game at two.
Two minutes later, Carleton’s offense struck again, as Moser broke free from the Gee-Gees defense and sprinted 60 yards before slotting the ball into her trusted bottom-left corner.
“I’m confident in my speed so I figured if I get to the ball … I press them and make them make a mistake.”
With the game winner and an honorary assist, Moser flipped the script on Friday, something Oliveri expects to see from his veteran captain.
“If she doesn’t come in and have that performance, I don’t think we get this result,” he said. “What a leader, put the team on her back there for the first 20 minutes of the second half and willed us to win that game.”
The Ravens put faith in their defense for the final twenty minutes, shifting formation and limiting risks on offense to secure the victory.
“We needed to shut it down in the second half,” Oliveri said. “We knew we couldn’t allow another goal if we were going to come back and win.“
The Ravens capitalized on their opportunity to pull away from the Gee-Gees in the standings, moving three points ahead into second place in the OUA Eastern Conference with a 5-2 record.
With eyes set on their second game of the home-and-home at the University of Ottawa on Sept. 21, the Ravens will look to keep their momentum alive and extend their win streak to four.
“We’ve got to throw the first punch,” Moser said. “We’re ready for it, we know what’s coming — we’re just going to bring the same energy.”
Featured Image by Denielle Gaudet/the Charlatan
