OTTAWA - The Carleton Ravens women’s hockey team won 2-0 over the Montreal Carabins at the Icehouse Friday night, picking up the team’s first win of the regular season.
Both teams came out with good energy in the opening 20 minutes of play, sharing chances at either end. Montreal goaltender Aube Racine stood strong though, while Ravens netminder Caitlin Whitehead (Ottawa, Ont.) also made some large saves to keep the game scoreless. The Carleton defense did a strong job at joining the forwards in the rush to generate a few strong chances; however, this didn’t amount to any goals as both teams entered the dressing room tied up 0-0.
Montreal picked up its game in the second, generating a high volume of scoring chances throughout the period. Whitehead once again stood strong, making some large saves to preserve the 0-0 score line. Despite this pressure, Carleton was able to generate momentum on a power play and just as the teams returned to five on five play, the Ravens were able to break the ice. A solid effort by Cecilia Lopez (Winnipeg. Mb.) resulted in Jenna Morais (Burlington, Ont.) finding a loose puck in the slot, putting it past Racine and scoring her first of the season to give the Ravens a late second period 1-0 advantage.
The Ravens took that 1-0 lead to the third, with Montreal starting to press in an attempt to find the equalizer. The Ravens defense supported Whitehead by keeping shots to the outside, while the goaltender supported the defense with strong rebound control. It wasn’t long before the Ravens were able to add on to the lead. On a relentless forecheck play, Lanie Guimond (Kirkland Lake, Ont.) created a turnover in the offensive zone and fed Lopez who buried her first goal of the season to give Carleton a 2-0 advantage. The defense did the job the rest of the way to hold off an experienced Montreal team and pick up the 2-0 victory.
The win is Carleton’s first of the regular season and improved the team's record to 1-4-0. The Ravens will head down the road to face off against the University of Ottawa Gee Gees Saturday night, kicking off a seven-game road trip including the Colonel By Classic on November 19th.
FROM HEAD COACH STACEY COLAROSSI:
“It feels like a sigh of relief to get that off our back. We did have a great exhibition and we just had to go back to that, grind out the game so I’m happy for them.”
ON YOUNG DEFENDERS PAYTON MILLER AND DAPHNEE LEMAY:
“We call them our littles and I think they play a game of urgency. They skate very well so they can eat up ice when they get out of position, they can recover relatively well. Neither of them thinks they’re small so for us it's just about closing those small gaps and we were confident they could do that tonight.”
ON CAITLIN WHITEHEAD’S PERFORMANCE:
“She’s run three games now where she’s given us an opportunity to win. She’s coming into her form and we’re going to frustrate some teams with her, and she loves getting peppered so it's nice to see her finding her stride.”
ON BREAKING SHUTOUT STREAK:
“It was super satisfying, especially when it was an execution of some things, we’ve practiced this week which is always nice to see. For (Morais) to get that and get the wheels going, it's nice to have a senior player do that, step up, take some ownership and put pucks on net.”
ON UPCOMING SEVEN GAME ROAD TRIP:
“It might be a blessing in disguise to get out of our building and just go play in other places and spend some time together as a team. For us it's just going to be getting back to work and recognizing that this is our identity. It’s not a pretty hockey team, we have to work for 60 minutes as a whole group.”