OTTAWA - In a thrilling Sunday afternoon affair at the Icehouse, the Carleton Ravens defeated the highly ranked Concordia Stingers 4-3 in front of a raucous home crowd. Carleton instilled a structure dedicated to defensive play and a good forecheck, buying into that throughout to secure an upset victory.
Ravens head coach Stacey Colarossi commented on that plan postgame. “They’re starting to recognize when you work hard, and you have a good structure, it’s a good combination. All five players and then the goalie included have to be working in that structure. One person comes out of place and it doesn’t work.”
In the first period, Carleton was able to fend off the Concordia attack and eventually break the ice with the first goal of the game. Sydney Berta found the loose puck on a rebound from a point shot, giving Carleton the 1-0 advantage. The Ravens were also relentless on the penalty kill in the first, killing off two Concordia power plays. Carleton went into the dressing room up 1-0.
The Ravens implemented the same defensive strategy in the second, trying to hold off the Stingers' attack. That helped get Carleton a power play opportunity and Lanie Guimond made the Stingers pay finding the back of the next and to make it a 2-0 Ravens lead.
Defender Rhys Cole-Ashbury commented on the Ravens' power play success in the game. “There was a lot of communication which is something that we’ve definitely been working on. It really helps when you have everyone around you talking and telling you what's going on, especially [against] a team like [Concordia], they’re pretty fast and skilled.”
The Stingers turned on the jets after that goal however and responded late in the middle frame cutting the deficit back to a one-goal game. Carleton entered the dressing room up 2-1 ahead of a big third period.
In the third, the Ravens did a good job playing low-event hockey trying hard to limit high-danger chances for the Stingers. That was all until an odd-man rush sent Carleton pointed north and Cole-Ashbury found a loose puck off of a nice feed from Sandrine Hachez to extend the Ravens' lead. Carleton then added yet another as Hayden Serniuk found the back of the net to give the Ravens a 4-1 advantage. Concordia would not let up though and two quick late goals made it a 4-3 game with the Stingers finding their offensive groove. Despite adversity, the Ravens defended hard in the late stages and were able to hold on and take the 4-3 decision.
After two huge wins on the weekend, Carleton will look to keep things rolling as it faces the Bishop's Gaiters and the Montreal Carabins on the road next. “Bishop's is a fast skating team that works really hard,” Colarossi said. “We played a (team with) really high-end skill and now they can play a bump and grind game and we’re going to have to match that next weekend.”
The same sentiment was shared with Cole-Ashbury as the team builds for next weekend. “As a team, we have goals every week and we work towards them and execute them in games,” she said. “Going forward it's exciting, we just are a little bit better every day.”
