The Carleton Ravens women’s hockey team was unable to find the back of the net Jan. 29 at the Ice House, dropping a 3-0 match to the undefeated McGill Martlets.
The Ravens found themselves in penalty trouble in the first period and the Martlets were quick to take advantage, scoring two power play goals within two minutes of each other.
“[If] we give McGill four powerplay opportunities like that we know they’re going to capitalize on them,” said Ravens head coach Shelley Coolidge. “They’ve got a great power play.”
“They know exactly where to put the puck and in doing so they can break us down,” added rookie forward Alexandra Yallouz.
By the first intermission, first-year Ravens goaltender Victoria Powers had already faced 16 shots from the powerhouse Martlets.
The struggle continued in the second period, with the Martlets holding the Ravens to just five shots. McGill extended their lead with another goal halfway through the middle frame.
“We didn’t have a strong backcheck at all,” Coolidge said. “We’re a better team than that and we didn’t show it. In the second period, [McGill] completely controlled the play of the game.”
Neither team scored in the third period, and Coolidge said she felt the Ravens played stronger in the final 20 minutes.
“There were times when we skated with them and competed with them,” Yallouz said. “But you can’t let up against a team like that and unfortunately there were moments where we [did] and that’s what cost us at the end of the day.”
While the loss was the Ravens’ 11th in their last 12 games, Yallouz said the team refuses to focus on the past.
“We can only focus on what we’ve learned from each of those losses and bring that to our next game, and hopefully that will start resulting in some wins,” she said. “We’re still positive.”
The Ravens remain in the fifth and last position in the Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec, but Coolidge said climbing up in the standings isn’t out of the realm of possibility.
“If we win the season out we have an opportunity to gain second place,” she said.
“It’s about us competing on two sides of the puck,” she added.
The Ravens have another chance to beat the Martlets Feb. 5, when they travel to McGill for a two game road-trip. They will meet the Concordia University Stingers on Feb. 6.