The Carleton Ravens women’s hockey team’s season came to an abrupt end Feb. 24, after losing 5-1 to the Université de Montréal Carabins in their Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ) playoff series clincher.
After finishing the season third in the RSEQ, the Ravens opened the playoffs against the second-place Carabins, but they fell short in the series opener and couldn’t recover in game two.
“The score was not reflective of the team’s effort,” said head coach Shelley Coolidge, whose Ravens outshot the Carabins 38 to 23. “We did a great job of getting pucks to the net and Montreal’s goaltender played an outstanding game.”
“We just didn’t have the hockey gods on our side,” added second-year goaltender Tamber Tisdale.
The Ravens controlled the play early in the first period, with fifth-year forward Claudia Bergeron scoring shorthanded, but the Carabins quickly struck back.
“When they scored 30 seconds later, that put us down,” Tisdale said.
During the second period, despite several scoring opportunities for the Ravens, it was the Carabins who capitalized on their chances, building a two-goal lead to end the period up 3-1.
The Carabins added an insurance marker and an empty net goal in the third period to seal the series victory.
In game one of the series, the Ravens came out fighting but ended up losing 5-1 Feb. 22 in Montreal. After surrendering a late first period goal, a four-goal Carabins onslaught in the second period made the Ravens’ deficit even larger, and they were unable to come back.
Despite the loss, there were some silver linings to the season. The Ravens placed third in the RSEQ, accumulating the most regular-season points in the team’s history. They also beat the top-ranked McGill Marlets for the first time, which Tisdale said was a season highlight.
“People are more aware of Carleton’s women’s hockey program and that’s important for attracting good girls to the team,” said Tisdale.
The Ravens will lose five players to graduation this off-season, all of whom did commendable jobs in their time at Carleton, according to Coolidge.
“I’m really proud of all of them. I can’t point to just one,” she said.
The five players moving on from the Ravens are Bergeron, fifth-year forward Kaila Lassaline, fourth-year forward Kristen MacDonald, fifth-year defender Melanie McKnight and fifth-year forward and team captain Sara Seiler.
Moving forward, Tisdale said the Ravens need to bring in strong recruits and “need people to step up and take leadership on the team,” a view echoed by Coolidge. Before beginning the recruiting process, though, Coolidge said she looks forward to a couple of weeks off before diving into work for next year.
She said she also hopes to see more school spirit for Carleton’s women’s sports in the future.
“They get too little appreciation for how hard they work and how well the girls represent the university as good role models.”
