The Carleton Ravens women’s hockey team continued their early season skid Nov. 16, losing 3-0 to the University of Montreal Carabins at the Ice House.
But despite another early season loss, the team remains confident, according to head coach Shelley Coolidge.
“No team wants to be 1-8, but if you look at how our team has competed, we’ve competed better as a unit,” she said. “The team is continuing to work hard and practice hard.”
Coolidge said the Ravens performed well in the first period, but they gave up their early momentum, allowing the Carabins to get ahead.
“During the first period, we stayed penalty free. If we play five on five, we can compete,” Ravens goalie Eri Kiribuchi said. “We competed hard against one of the best teams in the country.”
She pointed to three specific areas where the team can improve: protecting the front of the net, staying penalty free, and maintaining a solid effort for an entire game.
Ravens captain Victoria Gouge said the team had a problem executing, but they did a good job getting shots on net.
“I knew, and the whole team knew, that we could beat them,” she said.
The Carabins took advantage of Carleton’s seven penalties, scoring two of their three goals while on the power play.
Gouge said these “working penalties” are not a result of undisciplined play, but that sometimes it is necessary to take a penalty in order to stop a goal.
While these can be unavoidable, she said the team is working on their defence and moving their feet in order to cut the penalties down.
Kiribuchi was one bright spot for the Ravens. She stopped 36 of 39 shots and Gouge called her play “absolutely amazing.”
Coolidge credited the hard work at practice and the team’s goalie coach, Tom Dempsey, for this success.
“We’ve been outshot by our opponents, but we’ve spent too much time in the penalty box,” Coolidge said. “Our goaltenders have been working really hard.”
Gouge said the team needs to improve on keeping the scoring area in front of the net clear of their opponents and clearing the scrambles in front of the net in order to help Kiribuchi.
The Ravens are in a difficult stretch of games. Their last two games were against the McGill University Martlets, and the Carabins, who are the top two ranked teams in the Canadian Interuniversity Sport.
The Ravens’ next game is Nov. 22 in a rematch against the Carabins, this time in Montreal. They will then play the Concordia University Stingers Nov. 24.
“The results aren’t ideal, but we keep getting better and better every game,” Gouge said. “We’ve got a pretty good attitude going forward.”
Coolidge said there are still a lot of games left in the season and their goals haven’t changed.
The Ravens have a record of 1-7-1 and sit in last place in the Quebec league RSEQ, one point back of the Stingers.
“Our goal is to make the playoffs. We have work to do this weekend, but we have the skill set to make the playoffs and move forward from there,” Coolidge said.
