After an incredible six-game winning streak, the Carleton Ravens women’s rugby team lost 29-3 in a tough battle against the Laval Rouge et Or in the Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ) semifinals on Oct. 30.
While eliminated from qualifying for the RSEQ championship, the Ravens will play next weekend against Université de Montréal for third place.
Saturday’s loss marks the second time the Ravens have lost to the Rouge et Or in the semifinals after the 2018 season ended with a 23-12 loss.
Heading into Saturday’s game, the Ravens knew they would have their work cut out for them against the Rouge et Or. Laval is currently ranked as the number one team in the country and have yet to lose a game this season.
It didn’t take the Rouge et Or long to get ahead of the Ravens, scoring their first try just a few minutes into the game. Meanwhile, the Ravens struggled to get past a strong defence.
“Once again, nerves at the beginning of the game cost us a few errors, allowing Laval to kind of exploit that,” head coach David Luong said. “Throughout the game, confidence was being regained and we started to do some of the little things that we normally do more efficiently.”
By halftime, the score was 17-0 with the Rouge et Or remaining in control of most of the plays.
The Ravens did manage to get some points on the board with a penalty late in the second half bringing the final score to 29-3.
Luong said there was a mix of emotions from the players at the game. Many of them were excited to be in the semifinals while also wishing for a better outcome.
“We just emphasize that this is just another chapter in [the players’] journey and this is what builds that resiliency,” Luong said. “Now [they] know what it takes, and what we need to do to get back and move further from this position.”
The RSEQ third-place game will be the third time the Ravens play against Montreal this season. In the quarterfinals, the Ravens beat the Université de Montréal in a close 17-12 win after splitting the two games they played in the regular season.
The team will use what they learned from the game against the Rouge et Or to build on their strategy and finish on a high note next weekend, Luong said.
“With the feeling of unfinished business from today’s game, [the players will] take that and we’ll train throughout the week to really make sure that there is no debate on who the better team is,” Luong said.
Photo on file by Tim Austen/the Charlatan.
