Ravens Sports Information (Photo by Marc Lafleur)
Lennoxville, Que. - The Carleton Ravens picked up a road vital win on Sunday evening beating the Bishop's Gaiters 4-0 in Lennoxville. Jenna Morais scored twice, Nicole Hunter had three assists and Marie-Ève Côté made 24 saves for the Ravens' first shutout of the season.
The Ravens and Gaiters opened the afternoon in their typical tight-checking battle with both teams creating scoring opportunities off the rush but neither team being able to generate significant zone time. Carleton’s best chance of the first came with Cecelia Lopez (Winnipeg, Man.) breaking in on a 2-on-1 but her shot was turned aside by Gaiters’ goaltender Charlie Wing.
Midway through the first Avery Krawchuk was called for slashing while working hard to break up a Gaiters 2-on-1 putting the league’s top powerplay to work. With Krawchuk in the box, Ravens goalie Marie-Ève Côté made a pair of pad saves to keep the game scoreless after twenty minutes.
On the powerplay early in the second period, Jenna Morais (Burlington, Ont.) received a pass from Nicole McNeil on the right side of the zone and made no mistake burying her shot behind Wing. The Ravens would continue to press and would be rewarded with a ninety-second five-on-three powerplay. On the advantage, the Ravens wasted little time, as Nicole Hunter's shot was blocked landing right on the stick of Morais who wired home her second of the period.
In the second half of the powerplay, Nicole Hunter’s shot would be blocked again, but this time it was Sydney Berta (Geneva, Swi.) who deposited the loose puck past a screened Wing for a three-goal lead. The Ravens' powerplay wasn’t finished, with six minutes to play in the period Aoife Mahaffy scored her first U SPORTS goal on a pass from Lopez. Mahaffy’s marker was the Ravens' fourth powerplay goal in 11:57 as they put the game out of reach.
In the third, the Ravens would shut the door. Despite finding themselves on a 5-on-3 penalty kill late in the period, the Ravens would stand tall keeping the Gaiters at bay. For her part, Côté was spectacular in goal, making eight saves in the third for 25 saves on the evening.
The 4-0 victory was near perfect for the Ravens, going 4-for-4 on the penalty kill while being six seconds away from also being perfect on the powerplay. If not for a Bishop’s penalty at 19:54 of the third, the Ravens' special teams would have been unblemished on the evening.
Carleton now returns home to face the Montreal Carabins on Friday night before hosting the uOttawa Gee-Gees on Sunday evening at The Arena at TD Place for the 2023 Colonel By Classic.
