With the puck set to drop for the annual Colonel By Classic at TD Arena this weekend, the Carleton Ravens women’s hockey team hopes to defeat the uOttawa GeeGees for the Alerts Cup trophy.
Since the first official Colonel By Classic game in 2018, Both Carleton and uOttawa have won a game each, leaving the series tied at one-all. The Ravens lost the last Colonel By Classic 4-1 in 2019-20 season. The 2020-21 and 2021-22 games were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
After suffering 4 straight losses to start the season, the Ravens gained momentum with four wins in their next six games. In October, the Ravens failed to win a game the entire month. They lost 4-2 to the Montréal Carabins Oct. 28 and 3-1 to the GeeGees Oct. 29.
To start November, the Ravens beat the McGill Martlets 4-2 Nov. 4 in Montreal and defeated the Concordia stingers at the Ice House Nov. 6. Carleton had not won two games back-to-back since their opening games of the 2021-2022 season and had not beaten McGill or Concordia since 2019.
The following games saw the Ravens lose 2-1 to the Bishop’s Gaiters in overtime Nov. 11 and 4-0 to the Montreal Carabins Nov. 13. The team bounced back with a 2-1 win against the Gee-Gees Nov. 17 and a 4-3 win over the McGill Martlets Nov. 20.
However, the Ravens’ winning streak didn’t last long. Carleton closed out the first half of the winter season with three straight defeats. They lost 3-1 to the Concordia Stingers Nov. 25, 4-3 to Gaiters Nov. 27 and 4-0 against the Carabins Dec. 1.
To open the new year, the Ravens continued their winless run with a 2-0 loss to the Martlets Jan. 6. The Ravens managed to snap the four-game losing streak with a convincing 4-0 win against the Gaiters on Jan. 15. It was also forward Cecilia Lopez’s first game back from a six-game suspension which she served for dishing out a hit to the head against the Carabins on Nov. 13.
Carleton’s matchup against Concordia on Jan. 13 was postponed due to inclement weather.
The Ravens head into Sunday’s game with 5-8-0-2 record.
Featured image by Natasha Baldin.
