Garrett Kidd (Photo: Marc Lafleur)
OTTAWA (Feb. 1, 2025) - The Carleton Ravens women's hockey team ended the month of January at the Ravens Nest dropping a must-win game against the Queen's Gaels 2-1 on Friday night.
Carleton came out of the gates firing given the stakes of Friday's game, hemming Queen's in their zone for multiple stretches of gameplay throughout the first. Despite the pressure, Kelsey Dunn netted the game's first goal for the Gaels with just over five minutes left in the first period.
Queen's dominated the shot department throughout the game, which has become a theme for the Ravens, who have allowed the most shots on net in the OUA during their inaugural season in the conference. “The fact that we’ve let so many shots get to her is a major problem in my eyes,” said head coach Stacey Collarossi.
Queen's played a stout defensive first period but struggled to break out throughout most of the second, giving the Ravens several high-quality chances. While the Gaels goaltender Emma Tennant was able to stop most of Carleton's chances, she was no match for Hayden Serniuk who fired a beauty snap shot past her to notch her team-leading sixth goal on the year, tying the game up at one. Colarossi and Serniuk credited her linemates Anya Misner and Vicky Kay for setting her up for the goal. “It just goes to show our connection," said Serniuk. "We've been creating opportunities and finally got one tonight.”
As the second period ended, Carleton had a powerplay opportunity that turned into disaster when miscommunication on a change and a bobbled pass in the neutral zone sent Alyson Reeves in on goal shorthanded. Queen’s leading goal scorer made no mistake, giving the Gaels the lead with just 17 seconds left in the second period.
The third period was desperation time for the Ravens, who needed a result to have any hope of playing postseason hockey. Carleton managed to get a few chances but was stifled by Queen's, who locked down their defensive zone, leaving little to no opportunity for Carleton to capitalize. Despite pulling Langille and calling a timeout, the Ravens couldn't tie the game.
When asked about her team's result coach Colarossi mentioned a lack of a difference-maker: “No one stood out above anyone else. It was a solid effort, but just a solid okay effort. We needed to be solid good.” The Ravens head to Waterloo next weekend for a two-game set against the Golden Hawks and Warriors, where they look to finish the season strong.
