Photo by Marc Lafleur
MONTREAL – The Carleton Ravens women’s rugby team are off to the quarter-finals. On Saturday afternoon, the Ravens scored an important 17-12 road win at the Montreal Carabins advancing their record to 4-1 and guaranteeing a top two finish in the RSEQ B division.
The Ravens arrived in Montreal with revenge in mind. After dropping their home opener to these same Carabins the Ravens have been unstoppable. Coming into Saturday’s action the Ravens were on a three game winning streak out scoring their opponents 213-5.
In a back-and-forth battle the Ravens would score first late in the first half, then while up 7-0, Lauryn Walker would continue her impressive offensive season crossing the try line for the seventh time this season scoring the Ravens second try of the half.
In the second half, the Ravens 14-0 lead would come under pressure from the Carabins who would score twice, reducing the lead to two.
With a two point game on the line, Ravens co-captain Roberta Drummond (Belleville, Ont.) would kick for posts nailing a penalty with relative ease and extending the Ravens lead to 5. The Ravens dominant defence would close out the Carabins, extending their win streak to five games.
The Ravens five point margin of victory came off the boot of Drummond, who has been an instrumental part of the teams win streak. Asked about his fifth-year co-captain coach Luong praised Drummond’s consistency, “She brought a lot of organization and some real good play calls on the field to keep us focused on the tasks at hand.”
The Ravens now prepare for their regular season finale next Saturday at Bishop’s. Despite having a playoff berth secured, the Carleton squad are not looking past the spirited Gaiters club. Asked about how his team would approach the final week, coach Luong continued to focus on being detail oriented.
“Obviously we’re winning a good winning streak right now, and the players will have a bit of a rest with Thanksgiving weekend, but Tuesday we’re right back at it, getting ready for Bishop’s University.” Looking ahead at next week, coach Luong would go on to highlight the need to continually improve saying “We’ll look at film, and we’ll refine for Bishop’s, but we like to stick to our game plan and not worry too much about other teams because when we stick to our game plan and execute well there’s really not much stopping us.”
The Ravens look to keep the momentum rolling next Saturday when they travel to Coulter Field. Catch the 5:00 p.m. game via live webcast.
