The Carleton Ravens women’s hockey team faced off against the unbeaten McGill Martlets in the second annual “Pink in the Rink” game Nov. 24 at the Carleton Ice House.
Unfortunately, the Ravens, sporting pink attire for the occasion, were not able to steal a victory away from the number one-ranked team in the Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS).
For the second time this season, the Ravens were not able to handle the Martlets, and were crushed 7-1.
The Ravens are currently plagued by injuries, and had a very short bench for the game. They were down three players already to injury and sickness.
“Numbers-wise we are a little bit more thin than we’d like to be,” Ravens head coach Shelley Coolidge said.
“It gives us a short bench, but on the upside it really gives players the unique opportunity to compete in some real different situations and gives them an opportunity to step up a little bit.”
In the third period, with the score at 6-1, Ravens defenceman Julianne Bruce fell hard into the end boards, and was severely injured.
Bruce remained down for over 20 minutes and paramedics rushed to her attention on the ice. Bruce was carted off on a stretcher and went to the Ottawa Civic Hospital. She went into the boards with her face and head up so the concern is a serious neck injury.
“By the time she was on the spinal board, she was able to wiggle her fingers and toes, which is really promising news for us, but we are waiting to find out what the doctor’s assessment and x-rays show,” Coolidge said on the devastating event. “We’ve got our fingers crossed that she is going to come out of this one okay.”
The game resumed, with the Martlets adding one more goal to win 7-1.
“McGill moves the puck really quick, and instead of us mounting an attack, we gave them the puck,” Coolidge said.
“We made ourselves skate a lot more than we needed to. We were getting the puck and instead of making tape-to-tape passes, it is off somebody’s stick a few inches and McGill turns it over and attacks back again.”
“We need to work on accurate passes. There are lots of good things that came out of today’s game for us moving forward. The scoreboard is not necessarily reflective of how we compete as a team.”
This game marked the second annual “Pink in the Rink” initiative run by the Relay for Life society at Carleton.
“The Relay for Life is a student-run organization for the Canadian Cancer Society. We do events to raise money, such as concerts and yoga. Our fundraising goal this year is $80,000,” Relay for Life event organizer Genevieve Labranche said.
“Pink in the Rink is an event raising awareness for breast cancer. The women’s hockey team wears pink, and supports pink, we wear pink, and together we hope to get the word out.”
The Ravens will try to break their five-game losing streak on Nov. 30 in a rematch on the road against the McGill Martlets.
