While some other students were enjoying their New Year’s Eve, the Carleton Ravens women’s hockey team was in London, Ont. competing in a three-game tournament against Canada and Switzerland’s U-18 teams.
The Ravens went 0-3 in the tournament, losing 4-0 and 5-1 against Canada, and 2-1 against Switzerland.
“It was nice to play a team outside of the country. It was good experience,” Ravens defender Jasmine Levesque said.
Ravens forward Chelsea Lefebvre found the games tough but beneficial for her team.
“We got to learn a lot just in how fast they move the puck. Hopefully, we all learned something from it and can use it for second semester,” she said.
The Ravens came into the 2014 holidays with a 2-7 record.
The Ravens opened the season with a big 4-2 win against the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees, but were unable to consistently best their opponents in the weeks that followed.
The lone exception was a win against the Concordia Stingers 1-0 in their second-last game before the holidays.
Levesque attributes these two wins to consistency and discipline.
“Playing consistent the whole game lead to our two victories as well as staying out of the penalty box,” she said.
The Ravens are in a tough division playing against the, the McGill Marauders and the University of Montreal Carabins, the top two teams in the country.
“We showed a strong work ethic and we haven’t gotten the results we wanted, but we keep improving every game,” she said.
The ultimate goal for the Ravens this season is to make it into the Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec playoffs, though they currently have an outside chance at the bottom of the divisional standings.
“There are five teams in our division and the top four make playoffs, so we just need to win like four games,” Levesque said.
The Ravens will begin the second half of their season facing off against the Marauders on Jan. 8.
