The Carleton Ravens women’s hockey team fell 5-2 to the Toronto Varsity Blues on Saturday, dropping to 0-2 to open the season.
On the bright side, the game marked the first time the Ravens were able to get on the scoresheet after being shut out on Friday at the hands of the Waterloo Warriors.
Following a first-period injury to Ravens starting goaltender Kaitlyn Langille just 15 minutes into play, the Ravens had to adjust, putting in Ella Grad for her first OUA game.
Grad stopped 12 of 15 shots in the loss.
“Ella did a great job for coming in the role she was in,” Ravens head coach Stacey Colarossi said, noting that the team’s shot blocking improved in the second and third periods.
Toronto opened the scoring off the stick of Abby Whitworth in the first period. Whitworth tormented the Ravens throughout the game, finishing with a hat trick.
Colarossi said her squad’s play was “a little bit sloppy at times.”
But she also pointed out improvements over Friday’s game, shouting out the the team’s first two goals of the season against the Varsity Blues, who won bronze in last year’s McCaw Championship
“Regardless of the scoreboard, I think our team was pretty consistent in their effort.”
Ravens rookie Silken Nicholas tied the game 1-1 later in the first period with her first OUA marker, assisted by Abigail Byrne, who went on to score in the second period for Carleton’s second and final goal.
Four minutes after Nicholas’s tally, the Varsity Blues regained the lead 2-1. Langille stretched to try and make the save against Toronto’s Kalie Chan but appeared uncomfortable afterward, favouring one leg as she left the game after the goal.
At the end of the first period, the Ravens kept pushing and played hard to block shots, with Grad standing strong in between the pipes.
But in the second period, Whitworth added two more tallies for Toronto.
Byrne’s goal brought the score to 4-2 with two seconds left in the second period, but it wasn’t enough to spark a late comeback.
Toronto added another just one minute into the third on the power play, making it 5-2, which would stand as the final score.
With 11 rookies this year and the Ravens being one of the younger teams in the league, Nicholas said the team is “keeping up with the compete level” and is “very coachable.”
“We kept pushing back even when we were knocked down,” Ravens assistant captain Payton Miller added.
On Wednesday, the Ravens will hope to stay on track and prepare for the Bytown Battle against the uOttawa GeeGees.
“We need to try and get the first goal and keep it a close game,” Miller said.
Ottawa sits at the top of the OUA East Division, with a 2-0 record. They have yet to allow a goal against.
“The wins will come — it’s a process,” Colarossi said.
Featured image by Murray Oliver/the Charlatan
