The Carleton Ravens women’s hockey team continued their winning start to the season, splitting their games against the Montreal Carabins and University of Ottawa (U of O) Gee-Gees on Oct. 20 and 22.
The Ravens fell to the Carabins on the road 3-1 before beating the Gee-Gees 3-2 in a shootout.
Carleton is currently first place in the Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ) conference with two wins and one loss, having played more games than the other teams.
Against Montreal, the Ravens opened the scoring in the first thanks to a wrist shot by newcomer Alex Bond that beat the Montreal goaltender.
The Ravens held the lead until Montreal’s power play was able to convert after a Bethan Wilson penalty. The Carabins picked up a rebound in front of the net and put it past Ravens goaltender Katelyn Steele to tie the game.
The Carabins added another power-play goal in the second period as forward Rika Pilon-Robert tipped in a point shot past Steele.
Montreal scored another goal early in the third putting the game out of reach for the Ravens. The final score was 3-1 for the Carabins who were looking for revenge after Carleton beat them in a shootout on Oct. 13.
Later that weekend, the Ravens got off to a strong start against the Gee-Gees, outshooting their opponents 14-3. Despite this the Ravens were not able to capitalize and both teams entered the second scoreless.
It was the U of O’s Mélodie Bouchard who broke free on a breakaway and backhanded the puck past Steele two minutes into the second to give the Gee-Gees a 1-0 lead.
The Ravens continued to create chances throughout the game, including a three-on-one where Shannon Pearson narrowly missed the net.
Later in the second, Ravens forward Carly Wouters carried the puck from the corner and jammed it into the net to tie the game at 1-1. Carleton quickly followed up with another goal as Katia Boulianne caused a turnover and sped free on a breakaway before wristing it past the Ottawa goalie.
The home team outshot the Gee-Gees 27-16 after 40 minutes but Steele continued to come up with key saves, including one in point blank range on Bouchard.
Penalty trouble cost the Ravens another goal as Bouchard found the net again with a power-play wrist shot less than a minute into the third. The game would stay tied at 2-2 as the third period came to a close, and the teams entered overtime.
In the four-on-four overtime, Steele managed to stop U of O’s Shanie Deschatelets off a cross-crease pass from Bouchard.
Steele and the team played more defence after Pearson’s four-minute minor for a hit to the head carried into the three-on-three overtime. The Ravens killed off the four-on-three advantage as Steele made three key saves.
In the shootout, Boulianne’s deke fooled the U of O goaltender and she put the puck into the back of the net as the final shooter and Steele shutout all three Ottawa shooters to win the game.
“We played very well Friday [against Montreal],” Ravens head coach Pierre Alain said of the improving performances. “Today [against U of O] was a continuing of what we did Friday. We outshot Montreal in the third and that’s what we did today as well.”
“All the players that went on were fantastic and of course, our best player is our goalie,” Alain said of Steele’s performance in the overtime penalty kill. “She’s made those saves. She’s been making those saves for years.”
Alain credited Boulianne’s defensive play leading up her goal.
“She stayed with her man, she forced on the wall, she just cut that pass and went all alone on the breakaway,” he said.
Boulianne, who was out briefly with an apparent wrist injury in the second period, noted it was good to score a shootout goal after not scoring in the season opener against Montreal.
“I just started my speed and tried to make a move and I guess it worked,” she said.
The Ravens take on the Concordia Stingers at home on Oct. 27 to see if they can continue their strong start to the season.
Photo by Trevor Swann
