Defence, offence both in fine form against crosstown archival
Even though the classic Ottawa-Carleton rivalry extends to every single varsity and competitive club at both schools, apart from football and basketball, women’s soccer is definitely in a class of its own.
The rivalry was renewed on Sept. 3 in an early season meeting of the teams that was a stalemate for most of the match. That is until the Gee-Gees offence exploded for two goals in as many minutes to nab a 2-0 victory.
It’s important to understand the history between the teams, both of whom participate in the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) east division. While the Gee-Gees are typically the favourite to win the division, the Ravens are also competitive—especially when playing their archrivals.
In three matchups last year, the Ravens gave the Gees their toughest test out of anyone. The teams battled to a tie in their first match, followed by a narrow 2-1 U of O victory, and finally an epic 4-3 overtime war in the OUA playoffs.
“Carleton is always a big game on the calendar; they’re our cross-town rivals and there’s a lot of history there,” said fourth-year striker Faythe Lou. “It’s always a big mental challenge for us to stay disciplined and play our game against them.”
So far this year, the nationally third-ranked Gee-Gees have looked very strong with a 2-0 record. The Ravens also looked good with a 1-0-1 record coming into the Sept. 3 match at Matt Anthony Field.
2 Despite how close the scoreboard was throughout the majority of the game, the Ravens only registered eight shots in the match.
The Gee-Gees peppered the Ravens throughout the match with 32 shots, but only found the back of the net for the first time in the 78th minute when striker Breanna Burton scored her third goal of the season to break the tie.
Two minutes later, midfielder Faythe Lou also added her third goal of the year and put the game out of reach for the Ravens.
“After putting so much offensive pressure on them all game it felt like a big relief to pot those two goals,” said Lou. “With our backline playing solid, it felt like one was all we needed, but the second goal sealed the deal.”
The victory extends the Gee-Gees’ perfect record to 3-0 ahead of a weekend series against Ryerson and Toronto at home on Sept. 10 and 11.
It seems as though the team is taking the changes of the offseason in stride and is already systematically taking down tough opponents in 2016.
“I’ve definitely been happy to contribute on the scoresheet early in the season,” said Lou. “What’s more exciting to me than my own performance is the team’s performance. I think we’ve shown so far that there’s a lot of depth when it comes to offensive power, with lots of players, including rookies, already contributing.”
Sometimes heartbreak turns to anger, and Gee-Gees fans might really like this team when they’re angry.
The Gee-Gees will do battle with the Ryerson Rams at 1 p.m. on Sept. 10 at Matt Anthony Field.
