The Carleton Ravens women’s hockey team started 2018 with a difficult set of games on the first weekend of the new year. On Jan. 5, they fell to their cross-town rivals the University of Ottawa (U of O) Gee-Gees, 2-0. Then on Jan. 7, they hosted the league leaders, Université de Montreal, and once again failed to put the puck in the back of the net, losing 1-0.
The Ravens walked into the Gee-Gees Minto Sports Complex looking for a big, but unlikely, victory. The Gee-Gees are currently the surprise of the season, sitting second in the division with a squad that welcomed 11 new players this year.
Despite these new faces, the contest was marked by the veterans, with the U of O’s Taylor McGaughey netting two goals just 11 seconds apart in the opening frame, and with both goaltenders putting on a show.
The U of O’s Maude Lévesque-Ryan shut out the Ravens, stopping 20 shots on net. While Carleton’s Katelyn Steele put in another stellar performance saving 26 of the 28 shots she faced.
With just under four minutes left to go in the third period, the Ravens let a golden opportunity to tie up the game slip through the cracks, when an extended 5-on-3 power play expired with the score still 2-0. The power play has been an issue for the team, with the Ravens bearing the league’s worst power play. Carleton has had the extra skater 49 times this season and has failed to score even once.
McGaughey’s early goals were all the Gee-Gee’s needed on the day as they trotted past the Ravens to claim their seventh win of the season.
The Ravens then hosted the league leaders in the Montreal Carabins who boast a record of 7-1-4.
Early in the first, the Ravens were showing signs of fatigue as the Carabins enforced their dominant cycle game early. The Ravens were able to hold onto a scoreless draw going into intermission with the help of Steele who stopped 14 shots in the first period.
The next period was told through the lens of special teams. Montreal was short-handed for six minutes of the second period but the Ravens once again failed to capitalize.
Valerie St. Onge made the Ravens pay for not seizing the opportunity to take the lead, and after sloppy play in front of the net, rifled one past Steele to score the only goal this contest would see. This loss extends the Ravens losing streak to seven games with their last win coming way back in October.
The Ravens are struggling to put pucks in the net this season. They currently sit last in the league for goals scored with 15. And while the defensive record is the worst in the league as well with 31 goals against, it is inflated by two blowouts at the hands of Montreal and Mcgill.
Ravens head coach Pierre Alain has a New Year’s resolution for this struggling squad: “we need to get a net-front presence going . . . we are going to get the bounces if we keep working.”
The Ravens look to end their losing streak when they face Concordia on Jan. 12, on home ice.
Photo by Cameron Penney
