Despite their 4-3 overtime loss to the McGill University Martlets on Jan. 18, the Carleton Ravens women’s hockey team took a step in the standings.
The Ravens (2-9-1-1) picked up one point in the standings from the game, improving their total for the year to six—moving them into a tie for fourth place with the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees.
For Ravens head coach Pierre Alain, gaining ground in the standings by any means is critical.
“McGill’s ranked fourth in the country,” Alain said. “We have such a competitive division, and any points you can get against any team are golden.”
Originally slated to play two games over the weekend, Carleton’s second date, scheduled for Jan. 20 against the Université de Montréal Carabins, was cancelled due to a blizzard from the previous night. The rescheduled date is still to be determined.
One game was enough to make Alain happy about the weekend, though. It was a tightly-played affair with the second-place Martlets (11-3-0), who entered the contest having won their previous three encounters with Carleton by a combined score of 11-3.
While McGill struck first just 50 seconds into the game, fourth-year forward Shannon Pearson contributed the equalizer at 9:54 in the first period on a blazing one-timer past Martlets goalie Tricia Deguire.
However, Carleton quickly got into trouble. The Ravens took two consecutive penalties to end the period, giving McGill multiple critical advantages. Forward Marika Labrecque capitalized on one of the powerplays, restoring the Martlets’ 2-1 lead at 12:15 of the first period.
The Ravens went on to take seven minor penalties in the game, compared to the Martlets’ two.
“It’s a thin line, when playing physically . . . sometimes you take penalties, sometimes you don’t,” Alain said. “Of course, you have to stay out of the box.”
As the first period neared its conclusion, the Ravens looked to have tied it up when fourth-year forward Jamie Wainman poked a loose puck past Deguire. However, the officiating crew ruled it to be goaltender interference, much to Alain’s displeasure.
The Ravens quickly found reason to cheer up, as first-year forward Amy Doherty equalized the score at 2-2 with just 1:24 remaining in the first.
For Doherty, it was the first goal of her U Sports career.
“It was exciting, especially after the goal before was disallowed,” she said. “I saw that their goalie was screened by her own player, so I took the shot and it went in.”
The excitement didn’t stop there. Carleton seized its first lead at 17:21 of the second period while shorthanded, when fourth-year forward Hannah Dinovitzer broke in alone on Deguire and roofed a shot on the glove-side.
Up 3-2 going into the third period, only 20 minutes stood in the way of the Ravens’ third win of the season. Unfortunately, penalty trouble cost them once again, as Labrecque potted her second of the night on the powerplay at 8:31 of the third to even the score.
Despite being outshot 10-4 in the final frame of regulation time, Carleton was able to force overtime.
McGill controlled play for much of the extra period, outshooting Carleton 6-1. The finishing blow came when Carleton turned the puck over on a breakout attempt, leading to a 2-on-1 chance for the Martlets. Forward Stephane Desjardins took the shot and made no mistake, handing the Ravens the 4-3 defeat.
While Alain was disappointed that his team couldn’t come up with two points, he looked forward to the bigger picture.
“We’re head-to-head with Ottawa U. If you look at the standings, it’s going to be between us and them,” he said. “This year is our best year, so far, in terms of our hope to make the playoffs.”
Tied for fourth place in the standings with the Gee-Gees, the Ravens will play their inter-city rivals in their next game, scheduled for Jan. 24. θ
– With files from Stuart Miller-Davis
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Photo from files
