Mason Bugaresti
OTTAWA - The Carleton Ravens are back in the win column after 1-0 victory over the Laurentian Voyageurs.
The Ravens were flying in this match right from the opening whistle. Carleton controlled the ball in the first 45 minutes of this one and created a number of chances in the opening half. Lauren Illman (Whitby, Ont.) nearly put the Ravens in the lead in the 11th minute, but her shot was topped by Laurentian goalkeeper Hunter Jones (Baltimore, Ont.).
Laurentian’s only chance of the half was a break for Cass Armstrong (Tottenham, Ont,) who broke away from the Carleton defence but could not beat Carleton keeper Chloe Lachance-Soulard (Ottawa, Ont.) who came into this match following 17-save performance against uOttawa.
Carleton would keep on pressing in the opening half generating some chances off of set-pieces. Off a Raven free kick, Salena Moussa (Ottawa, Ont.) found a free header at the back-post, but Jones again made the save for the Voyageurs. Chloe Doiron (Dieppe, N.B.) had two chances on the cusp of halftime, including a beautiful long-shot attempt which beat the goalkeeper, but not the crossbar. Despite dominating the first half, Carleton and Laurentian were both scoreless at the break.
“We were a little frustrated at the half with all those missed chances. The halftime break was just about regaining our focus,” Carleton head coach Dom Oliveri said after the game.
In the second half, the Ravens finally broke through to give themselves the lead. After creating chances in the early stages of the second half, Ana Itoafa (Ottawa, Ont.) picked up an assist on her Carleton debut as she played a lovely ball to Lauren Illman (Whitby, Ont.) who made no mistake putting the Ravens up 1-0 in the 68th minute.
“I’m not surprised Ana made that play today. She’s been so good in training in recent weeks that it was only a matter of time before she made an impact like that,” Oliveri said.
The Ravens defended well in the final 10 minutes of this one and secured the three points with a 1-0 win. Chloe Lachacne-Soulard (Ottawa, Ont.) picked up her third clean-sheet of the season.
The Ravens hit the road next weekend for a Saturday, Oct. 15 afternoon clash with the Ontario Tech Ridgebacks before heading to Justin Chiu Stadium to face the Trent Excalibur on Sunday, Oct. 16. Carleton closes out their home schedule the following weekend with an Oct. 22 match with Trent and closes the 2022 regular season with an Oct. 23 faceoff with the TMU Bold at TAAG Park. Tickets are available now!
