In the fading minutes of the women’s soccer game between the Carleton Ravens and Trent Excalibur on Friday, it seemed like the Ravens would be subjected to the same fate they suffered throughout the season.
The Ravens were shutout in four of their eight games by then and were losing 1-0 to Trent with only seconds left to play. While they ranked sixth in Ontario University Athletics (OUA) in goals per game, nine of their 13 goals came from their Oct. 3 match against Royal Military College (RMC).
Enter Lauren Illman, a first-year Ravens striker. On a free kick, she sprinted to the far side of the Excalibur’s goal, jumping in perfect time with the ball soaring past her. Her header landed the ball at the back of the net. The Ravens drew the game 1-1.
Illman’s heroics on Friday, along with her two-goal performance Sunday in a 4-1 win at Ravens Perch, ended Carleton’s 2021 season on a high note. It was a stepping stone season with a young roster in the middle of a rebuild, but there were moments—like Illman’s weekend—that are promising signs of what may come.
Illman will prove vital to the team’s rebuild over coming seasons and her weekend performance is proof-of-concept for head coach Dom Oliveri.
“It was just a matter of time for Lauren,” Oliveri said. “She had to learn how to play in the league. She had to learn how to score goals … [She is] a young player who’s got a really bright future. She finished really well.”
Her first goal on Sunday came in the 28th minute, when forward Mikayla Moser delivered a cross to Illman in the box. Illman attempted to kick it past Trent defender Alexis Wilson, before using a second chance to dribble the ball weakly into the left corner of the net.
Illmans’ second goal was a perfectly-placed penalty kick at the 41st minute that put Carleton up 2-0 by the half. Their lead would reach 3-0 with forward Chloe Doherty’s sixth goal of the season, before the Excaliburs got their first goal of the game minutes later on a corner kick.
Carleton would tack on another goal in the 85th minute with a free kick from defender Elodie Sylvain.
Oliveri said the Ravens had more opportunities to score in Friday’s game but took full advantage of the fewer opportunities they had Sunday.
“It’s just one of those things that we missed our chances on Friday and we took much harder chances [Sunday],” Oliveri said.
The OUA East is one of Canada’s most difficult divisions. Queen’s University and the University of Ottawa are ranked among the nation’s top 10 teams and York University is not far behind. Learning how to play against that opposition was one of Illman’s biggest challenges but she figured it out towards the season’s end, according to Oliveri.
Illman was one of the most sought-after recruits in the country, Oliveri said, and the next step for her—and the rest of the Carleton roster—will be developing during the Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ) indoor winter league.
“She finishes her chances really well. She creates chances for herself,” Oliveri said. “If she works at it and she puts the time in, she could be one of the top strikers in the country.”
The goal for the Ravens next year isn’t to make the playoffs—it is to develop Carleton as a team, according to Oliveri.
Oliveri said the next nine months for the team, as they play in the winter league and gain new recruits, will focus on promoting the program’s growth.
“I think what let us down this year was the consistency and that’s to be expected when you have such a young team,” he said.
Featured photo by Spencer Colby.
