Home opener was ‘the worst game we’ve played since I’ve been here at Carleton,’ says women’s soccer coach.

The Carleton Ravens women’s soccer team fell to a 0-1 loss and a 0-0 draw for the back-to-back home games against the Nipissing Lakers and the Laurentian Voyageurs. 

On Sept. 14, the team came out in front of 250 supporters sitting in the stands at MNP Park. 

Despite the boisterous backing of the crowd, the hosts were unable to secure a victory for their home opener after an “unacceptable” performance, according to head coach, Dom Oliveri. 

“To be honest, this is the worst game we’ve played since I’ve been here at Carleton,” said Oliveri. 

“[It was] unexceptable in terms of effort and being prepared for a game. That’s the worst we’ve played this year, that’s the worst we’ve played all year last year,” he added. “Today we just didn’t have fight at all and that’s not a game based on the players we have.”

Nipissing came out strong from the start and had three good chances early on in the half, yet Carleton’s defence stayed strong enough to keep them out. 

The Ravens were having problems with offside calls and often played the ball a bit too heavily, resulting in a loss of possession. The Lakers, as a result, found themselves sitting back waiting to pounce on mistakes. 

Forward Chloe Doherty was one of the first players to have an attempt on goal. The ball came to her from a set piece, but her half volley hit the crossbar.  

As the game continued, Nipissing tried to split defenders with runs or balls over the top and routinely tested Carleton’s defence. 

The Ravens back line held strong, however, led by a good performance from defender Elodie Sylvain and goalkeeper Sophie Ehlebracht, both of whom were praised by the coach. 

Ehlebracht in particular made a total of six saves and had a good performance despite being thrown into net only two hours prior to the game, after starting goalkeeper Sara Wicks was deemed unable to play. 

“She did really well, looked a little nervous in the beginning but then she settled down and made a couple great saves and kept us in it,” said Oliveri. 

Offensively, the team was doing well from set pieces and corners but nothing was hitting net. The physicality from the visitors ending up taking a toll and a goal from Abby Wroe, and gave Nipissing the lead in the 38th minute. 

At halftime, the score remained 0-1. 

Heading into the second half, Oliveri opted to make some substitution changes up front to hopefully add some more energy into the team after being out shot 8-1 in the first 45 minutes. 

The Lakers however relentlessly looked for another goal and continued to turn up the pressure. 

Two good saves from Ehlebracht late in the second half kept the score at 0-1. 

However, by the end of the 90, the Ravens were unable to pull a goal back for themselves. 

Heading into Sunday’s match against the Laurentian Voyageurs, Oliveri wanted the team to recover from the previous performance. 

As a result, the team came out with force against their opponents, but unfortunately were unable to find a goal, which led to a 0-0 draw.

The team came out as a force and routinely tested Laurentian’s defence, outshooting them 12-6 and forcing eight saves from goalkeeper, Heather McGregor. 

Midfielder Selena Moussa led the team’s offence with three shots followed by Ghalia Hammada and Cheyenna Bent, who both had two of their own. 

Unfortunately, despite the team’s efforts, nothing was hitting the back of the net. But their were positive takeaways, as the Ravens kept their first clean sheet of the season.

After the weekend’s performances, the team now sits in ninth-place in the Ontario University Athletics East standings. 

The Ravens have two away games next week, one against Queens University on Sept. 21 and another against the RMC Paladins on Sept. 22.

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Feature image by Tim Austen.