Photo by Marc Lafleur
OTTAWA – Quick goals to end the first and start the second would be enough as the McGill Martlets upended the Carleton Ravens 7-2 on Sunday night. With 3 goals on the powerplay, the Martlets proved to be too much on this night for the young Ravens squad.
In the first period, the Ravens would go toe-to-toe with the perennial championship contenders from McGill exchanging powerplay goals. After falling behind just over five minutes into the game, it was Ravens rookie Rhys Cole-Ashbury of Mississauga who would tie the game with a top corner point shot that beat Tricia Deguire over the blocker. The Marlets would respond with nine-seconds to go in the period to take a 2-1 lead into the break.
After the Marlets scored in the first minute of the second, Geneva’s Sydney Berta would respond three minutes later with her second of the weekend. After twelve minutes of back-and-forth hockey, the Martlets would break the game open scoring two powerplay goals in the final five minutes of the second to extend their lead to 5-2.
“The penalties cost us the game today, when we came back and made it 3-2 we played pretty well,” said coach Pierre Alain, “But those penalties, when we had momentum were a killer. You can’t take those penalties against those teams because at some point they’re going to hurt you.”
Despite the loss, the Ravens are 2-2 and remain in a three-way tie for second in the RSEQ. They’ll need to regroup quickly as they travel to Concordia next weekend for an important matchup against the Stingers.
For coach Alain, the team will focus on the positives, “I told the players after the game to copy and paste that and bring it to the next game. That part was pretty good, we spent time in their end, scored goals.”
As the first team to score two on the Martlets the young Ravens can take confidence in the fact that they’ve been able to produce offensively against the league’s top teams.
With another two goals coming from first-year players, the Ravens are seeing contributions from everyone in coach Alain’s lineup. “We have 16 first-years and the best way for them to learn is to go out there and play. We gave them responsibilities and we believe in them.”
After a pair of games on the road next weekend, the Ravens will return home on November 19 to host the uOttawa Gee-Gees at the Carleton Ice House.
