In a 2-0 loss to the Western Mustangs on Saturday night, the Carleton Ravens women’s hockey team watched their chance to extend their win streak to three games slip away with just over five minutes to go.
After a scoreless first two periods, the Ravens let the first goal in seconds after their goaltender, Kaitlyn Langille, recovered from a collision during an offensive chance for the Mustangs late in the third. Three games would have marked the team’s longest win streak of the season.
Langille stayed down on the ice for several minutes after a Mustangs forward tripped and crashed into her. But once Langille got up and the game continued, it took mere seconds for forward Haylie Kirkpatrick to score her seventh of the season on a quick play off the draw, assisted by forward Sara Forwell.
“(Langille) going down wasn’t good for us,” Ravens captain Avery Krawchuk said after the game. “We kind of fell apart for one play, and it sucks that that determined it.”
About four minutes later, Mustangs forward Sadie Mulligan scored an empty net goal to leave the Ravens down by two with just over a minute left.
Ravens head coach Stacey Colarossi said that although Langille being down for several minutes gave the Mustangs an edge, the Ravens’ play in the first 40 minutes cost them the game.
“We were inconsistent in the first two periods, playing pretty peripheral and not connected,” she said. “You can’t win hockey games in this league only playing 20 minutes.”
Krawchuk said the team’s energy wasn’t up to par.
“It kind of came in ebbs and flows,” she said. “That’s one thing we can do to improve — is just be a little more consistent with our play on the ice, as well as our energy on the bench and in the room.”
In the first two periods, the Ravens stayed slightly behind the Mustangs in shots, but Colarossi said she felt neither team was producing high-quality chances.
“We’re taking too long to take shots, which was allowing goalies to get square,” she said. “I don’t think either goaltender was outstanding at all.”
Krawchuk said while the Ravens should have gotten more shots on net, she also felt Western blocked their shot lanes to “put a damper” on their offensive plans.
The Ravens weren’t short of time in the offensive zone during their two power plays of the game. During a second-period power play, they spent all but a couple seconds in the Mustangs’ zone.
“We should have been scoring on that with the type of PK that (the Mustangs) were playing,” Colarossi said.
After the Ravens’ last game against the Brock Badgers, Colarossi said she felt her team’s defensive zone game was “really sloppy.” She said that issue carried over to the start of this game, adding she saw more effort as the game went on.
“In the second period, they started executing what we had told them in the first two periods … reversing the puck and getting connected.”
Sitting in last place in the OUA East Division, Colarossi said winning this game, or at least getting a point out of it, was crucial.
“We’re fighting for our lives,” she said. “Every point’s valuable, even if we had to come away with a point or two.”
The Ravens will return to action Friday against the TMU Bold, who are sitting at second last in the East.
Colarossi said her team’s fate in that game will depend on playing a more consistent game.
Featured image by Kyla Silva/the Charlatan
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