The Carleton Ravens women’s hockey team remain winless in the season after a 3-0 road loss to the McGill University Martlets on Nov. 10.
However, Ravens head coach Pierre Alain called it their best effort of the season.
Alain said that sentiment didn’t come from him exclusively but rather from the team when he asked them after the game.
“It’s always very encouraging, very positive when it comes from them when they see exactly what we see so we’re on the same page,” Alain said. “This is what we’re looking for.”
McGill forward Valerie Audet opened the scoring halfway through the first period, firing the puck past Ravens goalie Katelyn Steele.
Audet added another goal in the second period as the Martlets outshot the Ravens 41-28. However, Carleton would out-shoot McGill 14-9 in the third period despite only having one power play compared to their opponent’s four.
Martlets forward Jade Downey-Landry added an empty net goal to seal the victory for the home side.
“It was a great game. So encouraging,” goalie Nieve Seeley said. “We’ve been working really hard in practice, so I mean it’s good to see the results that we’re wanting—not necessarily on the scoreboard but in play. If it keeps going, it has to translate to the scoreboard eventually.”
The Ravens fall to 0-5 on the season—last in the RSEQ—while the Martlets move to 5-1 to lead the conference. Carleton hasn’t scored more than one goal in a game this season.
“Creating those chances: this is positive and this is what we’re going to keep working on,” Alain said.
The team changed their pregame routine before the game, according to Alain. It was something brought up by the team’s captains and it played a factor in the team’s performance against McGill.
“We’re all just hyping each other up within the team, so we don’t need coaches to hype us up before,” Seeley added. “I [guess] that’s just doing a lot of good for us.”
Alain called this year’s team “a phenomenal group” that is very connected. Seeley said it’s one of the most tight-knit teams she’s been on. “We’re trying to relate the closeness off the ice into on the ice more so,” she said.
She added that while the focus is on winning, they try to have fun instead of worrying about it.
Alain and the players talked about their excitement for the next game: the first-ever Alert’s Cup for the women’s team.
“Everyone on our team is really hyped up for the game, really ready to go and we have so much motivation to beat them,” Seeley said.
Seeley said she would like to see the game played with the men’s game at TD Place in the future.
Carleton faces off against the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees at the Minto Sports Complex on Nov. 16 at 11 a.m., being a school day game.
“It’s huge. We’ve been looking forward to it for a while now. We learned that we were going to have this game in the summer, so we’ve been prepping for it, getting excited,” Ravens captain and fourth-year forward Leah Scott said.
“And for girls’ hockey, it’s also a really big thing. Having a game like this, where it’s publicly advertised—it’s huge.”
—With files from Kassia Skorzewska
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