“She’s unbelievable, she saved that game”
The fourth edition of the women’s Colonel By Classic went Nov. 19 in the form of a matinee. The U of O had won two of the three previous games, with their last win coming a year ago via a Kylie Lalonde overtime winner. But the Gees had struggled out of the gate this season and were stuck holding a 3-6 record.
Optimism was back in fashion in Gee-Gees country though. They had taken U SPORTS #1 Concordia to double overtime last weekend, and more recently were coming off a 3-0 victory at McGill the afternoon prior.
1st Period
As soon as the puck dropped, you could tell this was going to be a fast, physical game. The first chance would come about five minutes into the game, via a bouncing puck in front of Ravens netminder Caitlin Whitehead.
Alyssa Biesenthal took a whack at it, as did Béatrice Bilodeau, but neither of them could put it past the goaltender. Bilodeau was robbed by Whitehead again moments later alone in the slot, with all the time in the world to spare.
And that’s how the first period would mostly continue. The Gee-Gees’ physical nature was taking a toll on the Ravens defenders, and the black-clad Carleton team was noticeably sluggish as the frame wore on. The all-female referee crew was letting the girls play, and hits were being thrown left, right, and centre, with no penalties being called.
But Carleton forward Lane Guimond got her stick tangled up in Gee-Gees defender Brooke Mepham’s neck area, resulting in the first penalty of the game, and a powerplay for the Gees. The grey-clad Gee-Gees would pepper Whitehead with half-a-dozen shots on the man-advantage, but just couldn’t seem to find the back of the net.
Immediately after the power play expired, with the Gees still in possession, the 0-0 tie would be broken. A centering attempt took a hop off the skate of Ravens forward Cecilia Lopez — straight to a wide-open Katherine Birkby, a fifth-year Gee.
Birkby had seven goals and 10 assists to her name last year in 25 games, and although she had racked up six assists so far this year, she had yet to find the back of the net. Birkby tripped forwards and it looked like that moment may have to wait. But to the delight of the hundreds of Gee-Gees faithful in attendance, the fifth-year somehow still managed to bury her first of the year as she soared through the air.
U of O co-coach Greg Bowles spoke glowingly of the veteran when speaking post-game. “I’ve known ‘Birks’ for probably about eight years because we recruited her, then she took a gap year, then she came to us,” Bowles recalled.
“She’s been here for six years. The progress that kid has made, from just being a team member to now being a team star, it’s hard for me to even speak about her because our connection with her as a program and my connection with her personally as a young woman is unbelievable.
“Every single day she brings the same attitude, brings great skill, and a great personality. We had pre-game video today where we picked on her in a nice way, and she was just a complete pro. Some people come here, and they leave, some people leave and they’re outstanding human beings, and ‘Birks’ falls in that [latter] category.”
The Gees would take the early 1-0 lead into intermission, although the Ravens weren’t without their own chances. Mahika Sarrazin stood tall in net, and although she wasn’t busy in the first frame, she had to make some key saves to keep the Ravens off the board.
2nd Period
Just a few minutes into the second period, it looked as if the Gees might extend their lead. From behind the net, Birkby found an open Jade Todd in front of the net, but Whitehead made yet another great save to keep the Gee-Gees at bay.
More penalties were called in the middle frame, as the Gee-Gees’s aggressiveness started to work against them. Rookie defender Amélia Laplante took a Raven into the end boards hard, 200 feet from her own net, which resulted in a boarding penalty for the Waterloo, QC native.
Bowles discussed the physicality of the team postgame. “I think we do play a good, hard, honest, game. Sometimes, the game when we get ahead, those penalties when they do start getting called end up pulling us back into it a little bit.”
The Ravens would hit a post on the ensuing power play but were still unable to find a way past Sarrazin. Carleton almost ruined Sarrazin’s perfect night once again shortly after that, as Guimond snuck a shot through the goalie’s five-hole — but the Gatineau native managed to get just enough of the puck to redirect it just beyond her right post.
After weathering the storm, it was the Gee-Gees’s turn to put some pressure back on the Ravens. U SPORTS rookie forward Molly Heighington came down the wing with Clarkson University (NCAA D-1) transfer Florence Lessard to her left, and just one Raven defender back.
The Calgary, AB native rang it off the post, but Lessard was taken down — so the Gees would head back to the power play. Early in the man-advantage opportunity, Ravens forward Hayden Serniuk would get her stick under Biesenthal’s skate as the Gee-Gee was starting a breakout. The U of O would have a long 5-on-3; a golden chance to get an insurance goal.
And they wouldn’t waste their chance. Almost directly off the offensive zone faceoff, Arianne Gagnon attempted to find Birkby’s backdoor. Her saucer pass banked off rookie Raven defender Payton Miller, right over Whitehead’s pad and into the back of the net.
Gees rookie defender Maëlle Laplante would be caught flat-footed just minutes later and be forced to take a tripping penalty, and now it was the Raven’s turn to capitalize on the man advantage. Sarrazin’s perfect night was over after Abigail Byrne blazed to the slot and sent a perfect shot over the netminder’s blocker.
3rd Period
The first two periods were physical, but the dial was turned even farther up in the final frame. Seven minutes into the period, Todd blazed down the left wing and centred the puck. The Nepean product circled the net and found Raven Meara Ryan almost standing still on the other side of the net. The 5’4” forward bowled her over, and play was blown dead as Ryan lay on the ice.
Neither ref called a penalty, much to the dismay of the Ravens bench. Bowles seemed to agree with the official’s decision not to call a penalty. “I think it was just a case where two kids ended up taking the same lane.” The coach said. “One definitely came out the winner on it, but both got their hands up on the replay we could see. I’m glad that [Ryan] is fine, that’s the most important thing here.”
But Carleton head coach Stacey Colarossi wasn’t as pleased with the non-calls when asked if either should have been a penalty postgame. “I’d like to believe that. Likely, something should have been called that was missed today. I would think so.”
Carleton wouldn’t wait long to get their retribution, either intentional or not. Swiss forward Sydney Berta would put the body on Amélia Laplante — again without the puck — and once again, play was halted for the downed player. Once again, no penalty was called.
Neither play looked especially intentional, although both could have easily been called penalties. Referees run into an issue of a slippery slope when they begin ignoring calls; the amount of body contact used in this game could have warranted dozens of penalties by the rulebook definition. But no one in the crowd would have been shocked if the first collision was called, and that would have probably avoided the second collision even happening in the first place.
The Ravens would come alive in the last few minutes and would send a flurry of shots onto Sarrazin. After pulling their goalie for an extra attacker, a Carleton defender coughed the puck up, right to Kylie Lalonde. Last year’s hero had the chance to put the game out of reach with no one between her and the net, but her backhand attempt clanged off the post.
After the Gee-Gees took a penalty for roughing, Carleton had 18 seconds of 6-on-4 to find a way past Sarrazin and send the game to overtime for the second-straight year. But the third-year Gee used her right pad to save both chances on the power play and keep the lead. The star netminder ended up saving 28 of 29 shots on the night, securing her second straight Colonel By win.
Sarrazin spoke in French after the game about remaining calm under pressure, which has been translated into English. “I think I stayed calm to make sure that the team stayed calm, and to bring the victory home for the team.” Sarrazin also touched on the team’s preparation this week. “I think today went well because we prepared super well this week. We worked hard and were due for two big wins, which are huge for the team.”
“Sarrazin is outstanding, I mean she was a Team Canada U-18 kid for a reason,” Bowles added. “She’s unbelievable, she saved that game — she was unbelievable for us at the end. We try to just let her see the pucks and play games, and when she does there’s not many better than her.”
The idea that the team was starting to turn a corner was proposed to Bowles postgame. “[We’re] starting to. Sometimes scores don’t necessarily show everything, there’s been some games where we haven’t been really happy with [the team’s performance], so again that’s part of the process.”
“I mean, we can lose a game where we thought we should have won, against Concordia, and we can’t be too upset with it, and then we can win a game against McGill or even Carleton and there’s a lot we have to work on Monday or Tuesday morning. So the scores are only an indication of points — they’re not an indication of our progress. But we are turning a corner and we’re starting to realize and get rewarded for doing the little things, and hopefully, the girls see that and can bring it into the tail end of the first half.”The Gee-Gees will travel to Sherbrooke Nov. 24 to take on a Bishop’s squad who got the better of the team Oct. 29. Later in the weekend, they will welcome the University of Montreal Carabins to the Minto Sports Complex. That game will begin at 3 p.m. on Nov. 26
