The Carleton Ravens women’s hockey team played their final home games of the pre-season this weekend, starting on a high note with a 3-0 win over York before narrowly losing to Ryerson 3-2.
“We skated 60 minutes,” said Ravens head coach Pierre Alain after the game against York. “We really worked hard, and we battled . . . They were physical but we kept going.”
Becky Davidson opened the scoring for the Ravens in the first period, although the team was only able to manage two shots on goal in that time.
“They took a penalty in the third period, then we scored to make it 2-0,” Alain said. “We kept the momentum and scored the third goal five minutes after.”
Katie Strain and Nicole Minors were the goal scorers for the Ravens in the third while Katelyn Steele played a complete game in goal to earn the shutout.
The following day, the Ravens took on the Ryerson Rams in a game where they fell behind early, clawed back in the third, but were ultimately unable to complete the comeback.
“The penalties just killed us,” Alain said, adding a slow start also contributed to the loss.
Ryerson opened the scoring early in the first while on a 4 on 3 power play opportunity. Both teams generated chances throughout the second, but Ryerson was able to preserve their one goal lead heading into the final frame.
Penalties began to haunt the Ravens early in the third when they allowed another power play goal fall behind 2-0. With just under seven minutes to go in the game, Tawnya Guindon was able to cut the deficit to one while playing four-on-four hockey.
Less than a minute later, Ryerson raced down the ice, wired a shot off the post, which deflected off Ravens goaltender Hailey Perreault and trickled into the net to give the Rams a 3-1 lead.
The Ravens remained resilient however, with Jennifer Semkowski deflecting a shot on goal while on the power play to put the team within one once more.
Although the Ravens were unable to tie the game, both teams agreed to play overtime afterwards for some extra pre-season practice.
Next, the Ravens are set for plenty of rest before their final game of the pre-season on Oct. 10th in Schenectady, N.Y. to take on Union College (NCAA).
