The Carleton Ravens women’s soccer team earned a 3-1 win over the Laurentian Voyageurs on Sept. 23 and a 1-1 draw with the Nipissing Lakers on Sept. 25 to remain undefeated at MNP Park this season.
“It was a good result, we got three points, we scored three goals, [but] left it late,” Ravens head coach Fred Juett said of the win over Laurentian.
“[We] didn’t capitalize early, I thought we had some chances in the game early to get up, and Laurentian eventually got going and it was a battle,” he said.
Laurentian forward Sarah Sanford opened the scorning for the Voyageurs with only three minutes remaining in the first half.
Though the Ravens trailed through the first half, they were able to outshoot their opponent 5-3.
While the Ravens had opportunities to tie up the game, they were unable to convert until Ravens forward Tori MacFarlane notched a goal in the 77th minute.
Shortly after the first goal, Ravens forward Abby Nicastro tallied a pair of goals in as many minutes to seal the win for Carleton.
“A couple minutes [after the first goal], Tori—great work ethic—battled down the line to get a cross in, and I just so happened to be there to tap it in,” Nicastro said. “Again, minutes later, Tori got tackled in their 18-yard box, so we were lucky enough to get a [penalty kick] to finish it off 3-1.”
Two days later, the Ravens returned to MNP Park to take on the Lakers.
The game marked another slow start for the Ravens, as they were unable to generate any goals in the first half once again.
“I thought Nippissing played very well in the first half, we were a little flat in the first half,” Juett said after the game.
“We weren’t sharp, we were scrambling a little bit, [and] our shape was off,” he said. “Second half, I thought we did very well—we created chances, they didn’t have a lot of opportunities.”
“Unfortunately they got the one late to get a draw out of it,” he said.
MacFarlane opened the scoring for the Ravens in the 62nd minute, when she was able to bury the ball after rushing up the field.
With only 12 minutes remaining on the clock, the Lakers were able to tie up the game with a goal from midfielder Brittany Burns.
While the Ravens pressured the Lakers in search of a go-ahead goal, they were unable to finish their chances and were forced to settle for a draw.
After the game, both Juett and Nicastro were disappointed to end with a draw after conceding the lead late in the game.
“You want to win every time you go out,” Juett said. “Worst case scenario is you don’t get any points, we got a draw out of it which is okay.”
Nicastro said she was disappointed with the way the Ravens team played.
“It definitely should have been a win, but all due respect to them, they came out and played their game,” Nicastro said. “They just looked like they wanted it more today.”
The Ravens are back in action on Sept. 30 when they travel to Kingston to take on the RMC Paladins.
