After winning four of the last five Ontario University Athletics (OUA) titles, the Carleton Ravens women’s water polo team was de-throned by the University of Toronto Varsity Blues Nov. 27 at Carleton.
Despite defeating the Varsity Blues 7-3 Nov. 26, the Ravens fell 9-4 the following day in the championship final.
“It’s obviously disappointing to lose a game . . . we finished with a silver medal but the Ravens were confident that we could defeat Toronto twice in one weekend,” Ravens head coach Steve Baird said.
“Toronto’s the best team, other than ourselves,” he added. “[They’re a] talented and experienced team.”
Prior to last weekend’s loss, Carleton’s only defeat in the last five years came at the hands of the Varsity Blues in 2008. The Ravens have won eight championships since water polo was recognized by the OUA in 1988.
Carleton started the tournament with two blowout wins, defeating the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees 17-3 and the McMaster Marauders 13- 5. The Ravens capped off their final preliminary round game with a 7-2 win against the Queen’s Gaels.
The Varsity Blues were the Ravens’ only “real competition” in the tournament, said Anne Chinneck, a third-year Ravens player.
“Coming into [the tournament], we knew we were going to be playing [Toronto] in the gold medal game, but we haven’t been able to beat them yet this year,” Chinneck said.
Ravens played the Blues twice this season in exhibition play, losing 6-4 and 4-1 respectively.
Despite some solid opportunities in the first quarter, the Ravens only scored once. They added three more goals in the third quarter, but the Varsity Blues, boosted by a five-goal performance by their captain Casey Pottier, managed to pull out the win.
“[The Varsity Blues] play a lot more aggressively and they have a lot more experienced team, [because] a lot of the girls are coming from club teams, whereas the other teams are coming from high school water polo so they’re not as experienced,” Chinneck added.
Although the team was disappointed with the loss, Baird said he hopes the team bounces back like they did after losing in 2008.
“Last time we got silver and then we came out with gold for two years in a row,” Baird said. “We’ll go back to a gold medal game next year and hopefully play Toronto and beat them at their [own] game.”
