The Carleton Ravens women’s hockey team lost consecutive games against the Université de Montréal (U of M) Carabins on Dec. 2 by a score of 3-2 and the Concordia Stingers on Dec. 4 by a score of 8-1.
Following the pair of losses, the Ravens are heading into the Christmas break on a seven-game losing streak.
The first game against the defending national champion Carabins was a hard fought battle for the Carleton Ravens.
The Carabins were able to dominate the Ravens early by capitalizing on their slow start. Eight minutes into the first period, U of M was able to get on the board as Carabins forward Jessica Cormier put a shot past Ravens goaltender Katelyn Steele.
The momentum shifted in the Carabins’ favour as U of M forward Valerie St-Onge was able to beat the defense and score her first goal of the season only 30 seconds later.
With only a minute left in the first period, Valérie Bouillon sent a cross-ice pass to Delaney Ross who quickly gave the puck to Kaylie Welk. Welk positioned in the slot in front of the Carabins net. After the first shot was stopped, she was able to grab the rebound and send it past Carabins goaltender Marie-Pier Chabot.
Going into the second period, the Carabins only led by one and the Ravens fought hard to tie the game up. The second period saw the Ravens defense holding the nationally-ranked Carabins to only nine shots, while they were able to generate 11 shots.
Despite the strong defensive play a late second period shot led to a scramble in front of Steele. In the confusion, Cormier was able to find the loose puck and score her second of the game, putting the Carabins up 3-1.
In the third period, the momentum continued to favour the Carabins. Montréal was able to control play and outshot the Ravens 18-7.
But with just over five minutes to go in the game, Ravens forward Delaney Ross was able to pull the team within one goal, as she took the puck off an unsuspecting Carabins player and fired a hard wrist shot that beat Carabin goaltender Marie-Pier Chabot.
The Ravens were unable to find an equalizing goal, however, and fell to 2-7-1 on the season.
Carleton looked to climb the standings in their final game of the season against the Stingers at the Ice House.
Leading into the game, Concordia had lost four straight games, while both teams only had five points on the season.
During the first period, the Stingers dominated a flat-footed Ravens team.
The Stingers opened the scoring with a pair of goals in the first 10 minutes of the game, with goals from Marie-Pascale Bernier and Devon Thompson.
The Ravens were able to halve the lead a few minutes later as Welk was able to score on the penalty kill.
But the momentum soon swung back in favour of the Stingers, as they were able to restore their two-goal lead before the end of the frame.
The offense continued to excel for Concordia in the second period, as they were able to score four unanswered goals.
The Ravens were able to hold back the Stingers’ attack in the third period by only allowing one goal to close out the game.
This loss ends the Ravens’ first half of the season on a rough note. The team will look to snap their losing streak when they host the Carabins on Jan. 8.
