Gee-Gees fall to Carleton for the second time this season
Losers in their last three games, the Gee-Gees women’s hockey team took on the Carleton Ravens on Friday, Nov. 30 at the Carleton Ice House.
This marked the third time the two teams met, and the first since the Alert Cup. The season series stood tied at one going into this match-up.
Hostilities for this one got off to a slow start—both teams struggled in the neutral zone early and for the first 10 minutes, dump-and-chase hockey was in order. Then the Ravens took a tripping penalty, giving the Gees a two-minute power-play, to no avail as Carleton goaltender Katelyn Steele stopped two good Gees scoring chances.
The failed power-play marked a swing in momentum, as the Ravens dominated the last five minutes. Carleton forward Carly Wouters beat U of O goalie Maude Levesque-Ryan on a shot through the wickets to give them a 1-0 lead with two and a half left in the first.
At the end of one, the Gees trailed on the scoreboard, but were tied in shots at six each.
The second started with high intensity on both sides—trading chirps and scoring chances, but again Carleton managed to edge out the Gees, scoring midway through the period.
Hannah Dinovitzer scored on a breakaway, deking out Levesque-Ryan with a sweet forehand-backhand move. The U of O would head to the dressing room down two, failing to score on seven second-period shots.
The final frame seemed more of the same for a struggling Gee-Gees team. In spite of outshooting their counterparts in white, the girls in Garnet and Grey failed to capitalize on the many opportunities offered to them on a platter by the Carleton defence.
Even blessed with a four-minute power-play due to a dangerous hit to the head by Carleton’s Shannon Pearson, the Gees couldn’t settle any kind of attack in the Ravens’ zone, prompting head coach Yannick Evola to call a timeout in despair. The Ravens would easily win this one 2-0, and the Gees extended their losing streak to four games.
“It was a good performance. In general, we had about 15 shots more than our opponent, but we lack the ability to finish plays, we don’t score enough goals. Carleton took advantage of their chances and they scored two goals,” Evola said.
“Their goalie played well, but we have many many, many injuries, and that makes it tough. We don’t like losing but we hope for health over the holidays to come back healthy in January.”
Levesque-Ryan also commented on her team’s tough loss.
“We do pretty much everything well except scoring. We’ve been saying that for a while, but when it’s not going well, we need to focus on what’s working. We just need to find the back of the net,” Levesque-Ryan said.
The women’s hockey team will now enjoy a much-needed month and a half break before their next game against the Montreal Carabins on Jan. 11. This will be available live on RSEQ TV at 7 p.m. on that day. The Gees will be back at Minto on Sunday, Jan. 13 to face the first-place McGill Martlets at 2 p.m. Grab tickets here.
