The winless Carleton Ravens women’s hockey team fell 6-3 to their undefeated crosstown rivals, the Ottawa Gee-Gees, at Carleton’s Ice House on Wednesday.
The loss marks the Ravens’ third straight home defeat to start the season, leaving them in last place in the OUA Eastern Conference.
“I don’t think we started on time in two periods,” Ravens head coach Stacey Colarossi said after the game.
“We have to be ready to go and ready to play at the drop of the puck.”
The game began with several costly turnovers in front of Carleton’s net, allowing Gee-Gees defenseman Tori Evans to capitalize and score a little more than a minute after puck drop.
Ten minutes later, Alexa Pongo scored on a shorthanded breakaway to make it 2-0 Gee-Gees.
Just before the period ended, Ravens forward Hayden Serniuk scored her first goal of the season from a shot in the slot, cutting the lead to one.
“It’s nice to get those goals going and get the energy on the bench so we can generate more plays like that,” Serniuk said.
Serniuk’s tally marked the first goal the Gee-Gees had conceded all season, giving the Ravens a reason to be excited.
But less than a minute into the second period, Gillian Warren scored for the Gee-Gees, putting a pin in any Ravens momentum
Ravens forward Erica Buckley pulled one back with a shot that bounced off the blocker of Ottawa goalie Clara Genier.
Ottawa silenced the crowd moments later with two quick goals — including a power-play tally less than two minutes after Buckley’s, taking a 5-2 lead heading into the final period.
The Ravens played a stronger third period, adding a goal from Jayden Olafson and generating several other scoring chances.
But the Gee-Gees held firm and added another power-play goal with five minutes remaining to ice the game 6-3.
The Ravens were two for five on the penalty kill and have yet to score on their own power play this season.
The Ravens have allowed 14 goals in three games — the worst in the league.
Ravens goaltender Grad stopped 29 of 35 shots for an 82.9 per cent save percentage in just her second career start.
“There were definitely some shots that I should have had,” Grad said. “I still have a little bit of nerves to work on, but I think my confidence is growing over time.”
“We didn’t lose the game because of Ella,” Colarossi said. “We lost the game because of many odd man rushes the other way and bad pucks in grade-A chance areas.”
Colarossi added the upcoming reading week will give the team a chance to reset.
The Ravens will travel to Oshawa on Oct. 24 for their next game against Ontario Tech, who also have yet to win this season.
Featured image by Marc Lafleur/Carleton Ravens
