The Carleton Ravens women’s rugby team put up a strong fight against the Université de Montréal Carabins on Oct. 16, though ultimately fell short with a 17-17 draw, and missed out on a playoff berth due to a tiebreaker.
The Ravens were in the lead until halftime with a score of 10-0, dominating the field the entire first half.
“It was quite rainy and the conditions didn’t really allow us to play to a lot of our strengths,” said Ravens head coach Patrick Thompson. “We had to play for territory, which means kicking for territory playing the game in the other team’s half, [and] running away with point—which we did in the first thirty minutes and for a large portion of the second half.”
The Carabins came out with full force the second half gaining some points on the board, but the Ravens did not let up so easily.
Kaitlyn McLeod and Maria Godfrey both scored tries for the Ravens, while Bailey Dean added two conversions and a penalty kick.
“The team dynamics had a huge role in the last fifteen minutes of the game,” Godfrey said after the game. “We all knew why we were there and what the game meant, whether you were a fifth-year player or a first-year.”
“The trust that we have been building for the past eight weeks was obvious. No one really panicked, we just settled back into our game system and played our own game,” she said.
Despite narrowly missing out on a playoff spot, Thompson said he was still pleased with the players for meeting the expectations.
“It was one of those days where if there was another two minutes on the clock then I think the result would have been in our favour, but I think it’s a good testament to their effort and really sticking together for a full eighty minutes,” Thompson said.
Qualifying for the playoffs ultimately came down to point differential of the overall regular season between Carleton and Montreal after both teams posted identical records of 3-3-1.
The Ravens opened the season with three consecutive wins—surpassing the previous seasons’ win total along the way.
Carleton then lost three consecutive games, with Thompson citing the loss to Laval as a turning point in the season.
“It was a pretty heavy loss—we knew that was not us, that’s not what we’re capable of,” he said. “Three days later we played [the University of Ottawa], a top team in our league and despite losing again it was one of our strongest games in the year.”
“The goal for the future is just to take it one step at a time, getting us into the playoffs,” he said.
Godfrey said that the more experience the team gains, the more they will become knowledgeable about the game.
“Whether it’s just the laws of the game or even different strategies and systems—more knowledge will only help this program move forward,” Godfrey said.
According to Thompson, the team will not waste time, and has already begun conditioning and preparing for next season.
“Our preparation for 2017 starts [on Oct. 17] and we know that, the girls know that, [and] each and every one of them is excited to get started too,” he said.
