For roughly 25 minutes this weekend, it appeared as though the Carleton Ravens women’s hockey team would snap its losing streak and eclipse its point total from 2013-14.
Pierre Alain’s team led for just more than 24 minutes over the course of its two games Feb. 20 and Feb. 22, but they failed to hold onto a lead, losing to the Concordia Stingers and the University of Ottawa (U of O) Gee-Gees, respectively.
Olivia Keefe gave Carleton an early 1-0 lead in the first game, which was dedicated to graduating players on the team, popping home a loose puck in a mad scramble just less than three minutes into the first period.
The Ravens were outplayed for the remainder of the first frame, and it was only goaltender Tamber Tisdale’s performance that allowed them to cling to the lead.
The playoff-bound Stingers tied things up just over a minute into the second frame via Devon Thompson.
Concordia defencemen Danielle Scarlett and Marie-Joelle Allard would pop two more goals past Tisdale in the period, all but sealing the two points for Concordia before the second intermission.
Audrey Morand and Emily Even added third period markers to make the final 5-1 in favour of Concordia, a fair result given Tisdale’s workload in the Carleton net and the difference in calibre between the two teams.
The second game against the Gee-Gees started in similar fashion, with Ravens forward Tawnya Guindon opening the scoring just three minutes into the game, but Camille Pauck-Therrien drew Ottawa level just four minutes later.
Rookie Ravens netminder Katelyn Steele kept the game tied in the second frame with 17 saves in the period, many of them close-range reactionary ones.
But Gee-Gees leading scorer Carol-Ann Upshall beat Steele on a breakaway early in the third period and despite multiple scoring chances, the Ravens could not find an equalizer, eventually falling 2-1 to their crosstown rivals.
“It was a 60 minute effort,” Alain said. “We skated from the first minute to the last minute, gave a winning effort, but couldn’t pull the trigger.”
The loss wrapped up a trying season for Carleton, who dropped their final nine games en route to a 3-17 record.
Carleton scored just seven goals during the losing skid.
“We obviously need to work on producing goals,” Ravens first-year forward Sidney Weiss said. “Our goals for-against ratio wasn’t very good but when we work as a team and play our systems, we can be good.”
