The Carleton Ravens women’s hockey team lost 3-2 to rival University of Ottawa (U of O) Gee-Gees in a shootout on Jan. 19 at the Ice House. The match was the fifth and final in a regular season series that saw the Gee-Gees win every game.
Ravens forward Annie-Pier Tremblay opened the scoring on the power play with a tip-off of a point shot from captain Tawnya Guindon midway through the first period.
“We worked a lot this past week on the power play. So that’s why we scored one and had some very good scoring chances,” said Ravens head coach Pierre Alain.
The game started to open up more in the second period. Undisciplined play led to seven total penalties in the period, and created more space on the ice.
Despite all the time the Ravens had on the power play, Gee-Gees defenceman Mélina Roy tied the game on a shorthanded breakaway with five minutes left in the second period.
Shortly after they tied it up—and with just 37 seconds remaining in the period—the Gee-Gees took the lead on a goal from forward Mélodie Bouchard.
The Gee-Gees poured on the offence in the third period in an attempt to put the game out of reach. They peppered Ravens goaltender Katelyn Steele with 18 shots on goal in the frame, following 24 shots in the first two periods.
The Ravens, meanwhile, were able to generate 18 shots on goal in the first two periods, but only registered four in the final 20 minutes.
Despite the few opportunities on goal, Ravens forward Nicole Miners scored off of a broken play with just three minutes left in the game to tie it and send the game to overtime.
In overtime the Gee-Gees dominated with the majority of the time on attack, but Steele was able to shut the door for the Ravens.
The Gee-Gees had three opportunities on a wide-open net that Steele managed to turn aside. The Ravens offence couldn’t do much to help their goaltender, and the game went to a shootout.
After seven rounds, the Gee-Gees ultimately prevailed on a goal from U of O defender Émilie Bouchard, giving them the win, and sweep of the season series.
Despite the loss, Alain said he drew some positives from the game.
“It’s positive every time, in our situation, we get a point, especially with our [top scorer Delaney Ross] out of the lineup. We really stepped up,” he said, while adding Ross was sidelined with the flu.
“Today we worked hard but I don’t think we worked smart,” he said. “But we did work hard, and that’s why we got a point.”
Three days later, the Ravens hosted the McGill Martlets at the Ice House. Carleton ultimately fell by a score of 1-0, though Alain said he was encouraged by his team’s effort.
“I’m really proud of the team . . . It was so close, we only lost 1−0. We’re closing the gap with the good teams,” he said.
McGill goaltender Rachelle Champion started her first career game in net for the Martlets.
Ravens forwards Shannon Pearson and Kaylie Welk had good scoring chances in the first period, but Champion turned them aside. At the other end, the Ravens defence, assisted by Steele, parried back solid chances from Jade Downie and Melodie Daoust. Despite the back and forth, the game was tied at zero after the first period, while McGill lead in shots by 10-9.
The second period saw a parade to the penalty box, as the Ravens took four penalties, while the Martlets topped them with five. Neither team could capitalize on the power play, and the game remained scoreless after two periods of play.
Less than five minutes into the period, Steele was unable to stop a one−timer from McGill forward Shana Walker, which proved to be the difference in yet another close game.
The Ravens will return to the ice on Jan. 19, when they will travel to Montreal to take on the Concordia Stingers. With two points up for grabs against a team they are trailing in the standings, Alain stressed the importance of the game.
“We need to win, as simple as this. We’re five points behind them and if we want to make the playoffs we have to close the gap,” he said.
– Photo by Cameron Penney
