It was not a close game, but that didn’t make Carleton’s defeat to the University of Toronto (U of T) Varsity Blues in the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) women’s water polo championship game Dec. 1 any easier on the Ravens team.
The Ravens lost 10-4 and finished with a silver medal in the championships, leaving the gold to the Varsity Blues.
Victoria Peters, co-head coach of the Ravens, said the loss was a hard one to handle.
“I’m still a little sore about it,” Peters said.
Carleton and U of T have squared off several times in OUA championship games, which has led to a rivalry between the two teams.
“Last year we won gold, and in the previous years they had, so it’s back and forth. We lost to them earlier in the season too, so we were hoping to come back and show them,” she said.
The Ravens were down early in the first quarter of the final game, Peters said.
The Varsity Blues had a lead of 2-1 finishing the first quarter, which they expanded to 5-3 by the end of the second quarter. The third quarter made things worse for the Ravens as their captain, Sarah McIlveen, was ejected from the game. Having already got two penalties in the first two minutes of the game, she received her third in the third quarter, and was kicked out.
McIlveen said finishing her last game with Carleton in this way, as she is graduating after this year, was not what she had hoped.
“It was pretty tough, It was hard to accept, and I felt horrible being the captain and having to do that,” she said.
McIlveen was named one of the OUA all-stars of the tournament, along with her teammate Emma Opie. McIlveen said despite the loss she was proud of the team for taking it as well as they did.
“I think there were some tears and stuff, but when it came down they all showed they were great sportsmen . . . and accepted their medals with pride. They all held their heads high,” she said. “I’ve never seen the girls work that hard this whole year as in that game.”
Peters said she was also very proud of her team and their effort during the whole season.
“They were all fantastic. They all had a job to do, and they went out and did it . . . these girls step up when they need to, and they know their jobs in the water,” Peters said.
The team is now going into the off-season, and will be looking at recruiting new members, as they will be losing five players, including McIlveen and their assistant captain Meaghan Broddy. Peters said losing that many players can be tough, but she’s confident in her team.
“It’s a great group of girls, lots of heart, just sometimes things don’t work the way you want them to,” Peters said.
