Photo by Valerie Wutti
Peterborough, Ontario – Carleton picked up yet another point Friday night as they tied Trent 1-1. The Ravens continued their run of solid performances as the team easily could have come away with all three points if luck was on their side.
The first half started relatively quiet, with neither team registering a shot on target until the 22nd minute. But then the Ravens began to find their groove as forwards Chloe Doherty (Ottawa, Ont.) and Lauren Illman (Whitby, Ont.) led the attack like they have done all season. Both players had good chances to open the scoring, but Excalibur keeper Imogen Bellinger kept the score level.
Then it was Trent’s turn to turn up the pressure as the stable Ravens defence was beginning to be opened up a bit. Thankfully, keeper Chloe Lachance-Soulard (Ottawa, Ont.) made some incredible saves to keep the score deadlocked. One significant positive this year for the Ravens has been the play of both goalies; Lachance-Soulard and Sophie Ehlebracht (Ottawa, Ont.) have had strong seasons between the posts and have shown their teammates that they can be relied upon.
It wasn’t hard to tell early in the second half that both teams would be pushing hard to take home all three points. Trent took advantage of the Raven’s aggressiveness on a few occasions to start the half, but again they found no way past Lachance-Soulard.
It was back and forth for a while until finally, the home team found a way past the Ravens in the 78th minute. After a Carleton turnover left them unorganized at the back, Violet Hipkin scored her first OUA goal for the Excalibur. Hipkin shifted the ball past a Raven defender onto her left foot and tucked it away brilliantly into the far corner.
But, the Ravens were quick to show that the goal wasn’t the final nail in the coffin. They hunted the ball down every time they lost it, and they were creating visible cracks in the Excalibur backline minute after minute, but time was starting to run out.
The constant Raven attacks yielded a freekick in a dangerous area in the late stages of stoppage time. The ball was floated in beautifully, and as the Excalibur goalie came to claim it, it was clear she had misjudged it. Evidently, the ball went over the goalie’s head, and Lauren Illman was there to head home the equalizer to ensure the Ravens didn’t go home empty-handed.
The Raven women have been in their fair share of excellent soccer games this year, and Friday was just another example of that. The team never stopped working, and in the end, they were rewarded for their efforts.
The Ravens’ last game of the season is this Sunday, October 31st, against Trent at the Raven’s Perch. The kickoff is set for 1:00 p.m., and it should be a frightfully entertaining match.
