Jackson Starr (Photo by Marc Lafleur)
MONTREAL - It was a tough loss for the Carleton Ravens Women’s Hockey team to open the second half of the season, falling 2-0 against the McGill Martlets on Friday night.
Early period and power play struggles hurt the Ravens throughout, and the Martlets took advantage in finding its first win of the season.
With Carleton unable to find its footing in the opening portion of the game, McGill capitalized on the first true opportunity of the game, a seeing eye shot from the blue line beat Ravens goalie Marie-Eve Cotê (Quebec City, Que.) high glove to give the Martlets a 1-0 lead. After the goal, the Ravens were able to get going and generate on the attack with some strong opportunities.
Sydney Berta (Geneva, Swi.) generated a couple good rushes up the ice and nearly beat McGill goalie Sophie Lajeunesse as the puck squirted through her arm before being cleared just in time by a McGill defender. The Ravens did a good job as the period went on at trying to generate off of the rush, which created some power play chances. The Ravens, though, failed to capitalize on two late power play opportunities in the opening frame and entered the dressing room trailing 1-0.
McGill once again came out of the gate strong in the second. The Martlets capitalized on the long change to hold the Ravens in their end for the early portion of the middle frame. Cotê made some big saves early in the period, keeping the Ravens within one goal. As the Ravens once again settled into the period, Carleton was able to generate some consistent chances.
Berta and Lanie Guimond (Kirkland Lake, Ont.) nearly caught Lajeunesse off guard on a couple of occasions but the Martlets defense did a good job clearing rebounds after the initial save. Overall, the Guimond, Berta and Aofie Mahaffy (Sudbury, Ont.) line generated a good amount of the team's chances throughout, something to look for as the season goes along.
After a missed opportunity on the power play though, the Ravens conceded again as Sarah-Maude Lavoie scored for McGill. A two-on-one from the neutral zone saw Lavoie walk in and rifle one high glove on Cotê to give McGill a 2-0 advantage. A late push didn’t amount to anything for the Ravens who entered the dressing room once again down, this time 2-0 through 40 minutes of play.
Carleton fell on its heels as the third began. McGill did a good job generating puck possession in the offensive zone and Cotê once again made some big saves to keep the Ravens in the game. After fighting early-period adversity, the Ravens had another crack at the power play a little under midway through the third to try and get back in it. Claudia Hennigan (Georgetown, Ont.) did a good job at staying hard on the puck to draw a slashing penalty. The Ravens nearly found the back of the net on that advantage but could not beat Lajeunesse. A late push with the goalie pulled was also not enough for Carleton who put a lot of shots on in the late stages. The Martlets held on through and escaped with the 2-0 win.
The loss is Carleton’s eighth in regulation on the season and drops the team record to 4-8-2. The Ravens will look to bounce back next Friday night against the Concordia Stingers, playing at the Ice House for the first time in 2023.
