SHERBROOKE - In game two of the RSEQ preliminary series, the Carleton Ravens lost 2-0 at the hands of the Bishop’s Gaiters.
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The Ravens put good pressure on as the game progressed, but an early Bishop’s power play goal was the difference maker. “We battled more,” Ravens head coach Pierre Alain said of his team's effort Saturday. “We won more races and more battles. Last game we didn’t win enough of those, today we won way more.”
It was a pretty even start to the game for both teams, each sharing chances in the first few minutes. That was until the Gaiters got an early power play and Neleh Vigneault-Sergeant, who had an incredibly active first period, carried the puck towards the front of the net making it 1-0 Bishop’s. “That was not the best start,” Alain said. “That was not the start that we were looking for and because we don’t score a lot of goals when we get scored on first, it gets pretty tough to come back.” The Gaiters maintained possession while generating chances, resulting in another Bishop’s power play, but the Ravens resisted the offensive push. A late period Carleton power play gave the Ravens some momentum with Nicole Hunter (Pickering, Ont.) generating a couple of chances from the blue line. The Ravens couldn’t equalize however and went into the dressing room trailing 1-0.
The second started slowly for both teams, with both sides grooving their way into the middle frame. The Ravens would start to push trying to nab the equalizer. Sydney Berta (Geneva, SWI.) had a terrific chance on a partial breakaway, but couldn't beat Bishop’s goaltender Agalé René De Cotret. Alain commented on Berta’s progression postgame. “She is growing,” the head coach said. “She made a lot of adjustments at managing the puck and she's got a very good shot. She just needs to get it to the net a little quicker.”
Jackie Grosso (Etobicoke, Ont.) then followed that up with a terrific chance of her own off a rebound, but René De Cotret stood strong once again. A Raven power play also generated some terrific chances with Jenna Morais (Burlington, Ont.) coming close to finding a loose puck at the front of the net. Despite the Ravens controlling puck possession, the score remained 1-0 through two periods of play.
The Ravens continued to push in the third, generating many high quality chances looking to tie the game and keep the series alive. They also drew three penalties in the third, but could not capitalize on some high danger chances. Rene De Cotret made some large saves throughout the period to keep the Gaiters up by one. Time winded down and the Ravens pulled Cote for the extra skater, and ended up with a six-on-four opportunity as the Gaiters took a penalty. Morais had a terrific chance on the backhand but couldn’t bury it. Despite some more Ravens pressure with the goalie pulled, Gaiters forward Maude Pepin scored in the empty net to seal the series victory for Bishops.
With the loss the Ravens get swept 2-0 in the best two out of three series. They will now get set to faceoff in the bronze medal bracket round, with the opponent for that series is yet to be determined.
