Photo by Marc Lafleur
It was a thrilling encounter Friday night in Oshawa as the Raven women faced Ontario Tech looking to build on their impressive draw against the nationally-ranked University of Ottawa. However, it was not to be for the Ravens as they lost a weather-affected affair 3-2.
The game started slowly and sloppily for both teams as the drizzling rain made it difficult to control the ball. But Carleton managed to breakthrough in the sixteenth minute after Chloe Doherty (Ottawa, Ont.) managed to latch onto a ball that was played over the top of the Ridgeback defence. Doherty didn’t need more than one touch to lob the ball over the keeper and into the back of the net to silence the home fans.
Things quickly started to favour Ontario Tech after the opening goal, as the Ridgebacks were pouncing on careless turnovers by the Ravens backline. Finally, in the 33rd minute, Ontario Tech took advantage of a mistake by Carleton as forward Sarah Foster tied the game with an incredible strike from thirty yards out. The ball dipped over the head of Carleton goalie Sophie Ehlebracht (Ottawa, Ont.), who had no chance to stop it as it flew into the top left corner.
It went from bad to worse for the away side as Ontario Tech took advantage of the wet conditions just before halftime; Ridgeback midfielder Jordan Tortolo had a hit from a long way out that slipped through the gloves of keeper Ehlebracht and into the Carleton net. The Ridgebacks added another just four minutes into the second half to stretch their lead to two, giving the Ravens work to do if they wanted to come home with anything more than zero points.
As the rain continued to pour down, the Carleton women started to gain some momentum late in the second half. Chloe Doherty (Ottawa, Ont.) and Lauren Illman (Whitby, Ont.) were working all game tirelessly upfront for the Ravens, and they were starting to create some good chances as the game dragged on. Illman’s hold-up play and playmaking abilities opened up the Ridgeback defence on many occasions, which was a sign of good things to come for Carleton.
Finally, in the 87th minute, the Ravens found a way back into the game through their prolific goal scorer Doherty yet again. Her fifth goal in the last four games came from a corner, and after Carleton won the first header, Doherty pounced on the loose ball and poked it home. It was a goal-scorers goal, and it restored hope that the Ravens could tie things up late.
Despite a few more decent chances, the game would end with Carleton going home empty-handed after a valiant effort. However, the team can take positives from the match, specifically how strongly they finished the game against an Ontario Tech team with some excellent results this season.
The Ravens get the rest of the weekend off and are back in action next Friday, October 22nd, at the Raven’s Perch against York University with an early 4:00 p.m. kickoff.
