The Carleton Ravens recorded their largest regular season victory in seven years Oct. 13 as they racked up six goals against the Trent Excalibur at Ravens’ Field.
The win represented their biggest goal tally in a single fixture since 2005, when a rampant Ravens side-hammered Trent 8-0 in a similarly one-sided affair.
Goals from Veronica Mazella, Nicole Filipow, Adrianna Ruggiero, Megan Sequeira, and a brace from Andrea Way were enough to secure a much-needed victory for the hosts as they chase a home tie in the first round of the playoffs.
The Ravens were out of the blocks quickly, opening the scoring inside the first five minutes. Mazella looped the ball over Excalibur goalkeeper Emily Webb following a quick one-two with teammate Sarah Royer for the first goal of the game.
The early goal was just what Ravens head coach Alex McNutt was looking for from his charges as they aimed to bounce back from a disappointing 5-0 away defeat to local rivals the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees just 17 hours earlier.
“It deflated [Trent],” McNutt said. “It was the same thing with us yesterday against Ottawa. We conceded one within a minute. It just takes the wind out of your sails.”
Royer nearly doubled the Ravens’ lead in the 14th minute. Rozlyn Boutin managed to get in behind the Trent defence before delivering a dangerous cross that a sliding Royer inexplicably put wide of the post.
Fortunately for the Ravens, this counted for naught as they finally capitalized on their first-half dominance just four minutes later.
Filipow, inserted into the starting 11 following an impressive individual performance against the Gee-Gees, made it 2-0 for the Ravens, latching onto a clever through-ball by right-back Jennifer Tutton, before expertly turning her defender and sliding the ball underneath the onrushing Webb into the bottom left-hand corner.
The goal marked Filipow’s first goal in over a month and encapsulated an impressive display by the Edmonton native, who was the fulcrum of most of the Ravens’ attacking forays.
“She holds the ball up really well,” McNutt said. “She creates a lot of chances for midfielders and the rest of the team. It’s good to see her starting to peak”
Trent, who had hoped to extend a recent two-game winning streak, were dismal throughout. Loose possession and poor individual marking proved their undoing on a number of occasions.
“We pushed the whole game and didn’t really let [Trent] play. We just outworked and outplayed them” McNutt said.
Trent did little to swing momentum their way in the second half and the Ravens swiftly squashed their hopes of getting back into the match in the 47th minute as individual defensive lapses allowed the Ravens to make it 3-0.
Following a routine corner, midfielder Alexandria Druggett clipped the ball to an unmarked Way, who pounced at the back post with a clinical header.
The Ravens were able to put the Trent Excalibur to the sword five minutes later as Way got her second goal of the game with a right-footed finish after being put through with a delightful pass by midfielder Tina Lacava.
Two late goals by half-time substitute Megan Sequeira and Adrianna Ruggiero earned a well-deserved victory for the home side who remain in fourth place in the OUA East Division, one point ahead of the Laurentian Voyageurs, who have a game in hand.
“We knew we had it in us,” Way said.
“It was basically just a matter of getting the result and performing like we have in practice, and the result came today”
The Ravens play their final game of the season Oct. 21 against the Royal Military College Paladins at Ravens’ Field.
