OTTAWA - In the team's home opener, the Carleton Ravens fell 2-1 at the hands of the Bishop’s Gaiters on Saturday afternoon. It was a strong back and forth game throughout, but Bishop’s was able to put a late goal on the board making it a 2-1 result.
Ravens head coach Stacey Colarossi, who coached her first game behind the Carleton bench, spoke about the team's effort postgame. “I would say we were very inconsistent today,” she said. “We had moments where I was happy with their effort and execution and then, in my opinion, we played afraid to make mistakes. Nobody wanted to take ownership of the game and run with it.”
The Ravens got off to a bit of a slow start in the opening frame with the Gaiters forcing the play early. Marie Eve Coté (Quebec City, Que.) was stellar in the first period making 14 saves on 14 shots. The Ravens got their legs going in the later stages of the period, with first year players Avery Krawchuk (Calgary, Alb.) and Cecilia Lopez (Winnipeg, Man.) each generating multiple opportunities.
“They’re logging a lot of minutes,” Colarossi said of the first years in this game. “We’re down a lot of players right now so some of those first years are taking minutes above their pay grade right now, but they’re giving us an honest effort so we can’t fault them for that.” Both teams were each able to kill off a penalty in the first period, with both goaltenders playing key roles in the first. The score remained 0-0 after 20 minutes of play.
The Ravens generated a lot out of the gate in the second period, but the Gaiters took control as the period went on and were able to break the deadlock off of a goal from Justine Turcotte. A nice backhand on a partial breakaway beat Coté five hole to give Bishop’s the 1-0 advantage. The Ravens battled back late but couldn’t equalize, as the game went into the third with Carleton trailing 1-0.
The Gaiters were able to maintain momentum in the early stages of the third period. Some good chances led to another slew of saves from Coté to keep the Ravens down by a goal. Colarossi commented on Coté’s performance after the game. “She’s outstanding,” Colarossi said. “She gives us an opportunity to win these games every day. We need to do a better job at getting (the opponent) to play outside and we can’t let them take liberties with our goaltender, but she does give us an opportunity to win every game.”
Carleton was finally able to turn their game around and get some offence going, and on the power play Nicole MacNeil (Sydney, Nov.) found the back of the net, tying the game at one. The Gaiters, however, quickly went back on the offense, eventually taking the lead off of Neleh Vigneault Sargeant’s stick. That gave Bishop’s a 2-1 lead. The Ravens couldn’t generate much in the late stages as the game ended with a 2-1 score line.
Colarossi commented on what the team needs to improve for next weekend's game. “Habits and details need to be better,” the head coach said. “If we play that sloppy against other teams in this league the score will be very different. We need to take care of our individual efforts first and foremost and then habits and details.”
Carleton loses its first game on the season looking to bounce back next week. The team will travel down the road to face off against the rival uOttawa Gee Gees next Friday.
