Photo by Marc Lafleur
OTTAWA – After a hot start to their 2021 season the Carleton Ravens women’s hockey team had their win streak snapped at two games as they fell 5-1 to the Montreal Carabins on Friday night.
It was far from a dream start for the Ravens as goaltender Marie-Eve Cote (Quebec City, Que.) had a miscommunication while handling the puck behind the Ravens goal, leaving a Carabins forward unmarked in front of a yawning cage only two and half minutes into the game.
The early goal would put the Ravens on their heels as a tenacious Montreal forecheck would make it hard for the Ravens to escape pressure and mount a comeback. The Carabins would outshoot the Ravens 10-5 in the first and 23-10 through two as they took a two-goal lead into the second intermission.
The third would start no better for the Ravens, an early Carabins goal would put the Ravens behind by three. It wasn’t until the final 90 seconds of the game when the Ravens would get on the board as Sydney Berta (Geneva, Swi.) would score her first U SPORTS goal.
The Ravens now look to reset and return to their early-season winning ways as they host the McGill Martlets on Sunday night. For head coach Pierre Alain, it’s about learning and moving forward. “As a young team we’re going to have good games and hopefully not too many bad games. But you’ve got to be ready.” The Ravens will use this as an opportunity to display their resilience. “We have to bring our hard work and our legs to be ready to battle.” Reflecting on their preseason experience and early season success, coach Alain has faith this is only a small bump in the road ahead. “They’ve shown resilience, they’ve show they can step up and I think that’s what we’re going to see on Sunday.”
Coach Alain and the Ravens now turn their focus to the Martlets recognizing it’s another difficult challenge. “It’s McGill, they’ve been in the top of this division for years, we’ve got to step up and get prepared for Sunday.”
Puck drops for the Ravens matchup with the Martlets at 7:00 p.m. at the Carleton Ice House with tickets still available.
