The Carleton Ravens women’s hockey team were looking to close the gap between themselves and the teams at the top of the Quebec league, RSEQ.
They took to the road Nov. 22 to take on the University of Montreal Carabins, then ranked second in the Canadian Interuniversity Sport, before returning home Nov. 24 to take on the Concordia University Stingers.
In the game against the Carabins, the Ravens were not able to keep pace as the home team would win the game 11-4.
The Ravens returned home to take on the Stingers at the Ice House, in what turned out to be a much closer affair.
“The difference between the two games from our perspective is that we battled harder on the defensive side of the puck,” Ravens head coach Shelley Coolidge said.
The Stingers were able to draw first blood as they scored midway through the first period, though the Ravens had been dominating the early play.
The visitors were not able to take their lead into the intermission as Ravens forward Julie Vaillancourt was able to tip a long shot from first-year forward Chelsea Lefebvre past the Stingers goalie.
“I pressured the [defence] hard and gave [Lefebvre] a pass, she took a good shot on net and I tipped it in,” Vaillancourt said.
The second period was a rough affair that saw both teams taking trips to the penalty box.
The Ravens were able to use the power play to their advantage when fifth-year defence Kelsey Vander Veen was able to put the home team up 2-1.
The Ravens fought hard to gain some momentum fighting off a 5-on-3 penalty kill, but the guests would not allow them to finish the period ahead as they were able to convert on a scramble in front of Ravens goalie Tamber Tisdale to tie up the game.
The third period saw a lot of back and forth action but neither team was able to find a go-ahead goal.
The game went into overtime where it was more of the same.
The Ravens were able to open up the shootout with two goals to one by the Stingers in the first two rounds.
However, the Ravens failed to score on their next three attempts, the Stingers scored on two of theirs, and they defeated the Ravens 3-2.
The Ravens continue to sit at the bottom of the standings in fifth place.
The Ravens will look to rebound from the loss Nov. 30 when they will welcome their cross-town rivals, the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees, to the Ice House.
