The Carleton Ravens women’s hockey team suffered a disappointing 3-1 defeat on Sept. 6 at the hands of the Kingston Jr. Ice Wolves of the Provincial Women’s Hockey League (PWHL).
The exhibition matchup saw the Ravens looking to build on the success of their previous contest, a 4-3 win over the John Abbott College Lady Islanders on September 1, which saw Carleton outshoot its opponents 34-19.
While Friday’s game against Kingston saw the Ravens manage their first powerplay goal of the exhibition season, it was the only positive takeaway for the home side amidst a flurry of second-period conversions for the visiting Ice Wolves.
Ravens coach Pierre Alain, entering his sixth season with the club, said he expects to see better performances from his team as it approaches the season-opening game against les Carabins de l’Université de Montréal on October 18.
“We weren’t great today,” said Alain. “I’m not very satisfied with the outcome and also the process, so there are things we need to work on.”
“Today, we scored a powerplay goal, so that’s a positive point,” Alain added.
Finally, just past the half-way point of the middle period, Kiara Zannon broke the deadlock in favour of the visitors, and under a minute later, Hailey Kirkpatrick appeared to have doubled Kingston’s lead.
While the goal looked glorious, it was disallowed by the officials after they determined Kingston had been aided by goaltender interference, and the score remained 1-0—hardly a consolation for the Ravens, however, as Kingston quickly responded once more.
Rookie forward Alexa Pongo firmly established Kingston’s 2-0 advantage at the 15:27 mark of the second period, swiftly capitalizing on a defensive miscue by Carleton and firing a loose puck in the slot past Ravens goaltender Alexandra Lehmann.
The Ravens did counter on the powerplay only 26 seconds later, making it a 2-1 game when defender Rachel Knee fired a loose puck in the slot past Kingston goalie Maggie Emerson.
But once again, Kingston came right back, and it was Alexa Pongo who did the damage, finding herself skating in all alone towards Lehmann with a little over a minute remaining in the second period.
Pongo effortlessly slid the puck past the goaltender after displaying some slick lateral moves, and the 3-1 score would remain throughout the rest of the game.
Fourth-year Ravens forward and returning captain Leah Scott said that her team struggled at times to compete with the “speedy,” younger Kingston team.
“Overall, we definitely have some things to work on. It’s kind of an eye-opener,” said Scott. “Exhibition games are meant for learning, and we definitely have a lot to learn from that game.”
The team will continue working improve in their next practices and emphasized the stakes faced by his players in training camp, said Alain.
“They’re all battling to be in the lineup. We have 28 players, and we dress 20, so they have to battle every day,” said Alain.
Feature Image by Mike Gould.
