Women’s hockey team set the pace against the Carleton Ravens
There’s nothing like the comforts of home to help a team get back on track. In their home opener on Sunday, Nov. 2 at the Ed Meagher Arena, Concordia’s women’s hockey team beat the visiting Carleton Ravens 4-2 to capture their first win of the season.
Having lost their first two games of the season, the Stingers came out ready to prove that their squad was better than their record indicated. Concordia jumped on the board within the first two minutes and would not give up the lead for the rest of the game. Stingers center Alexandria D’Onofrio notched her first goal of the season and beat Ravens goaltender Tamber Tisdale to give the home team the early 1-0 lead. Thanks to Concordia’s relentless attack, Tisdale’s workload was about to get a whole lot heavier.
Just under seven minutes into the game, the maroon and gold scored their second goal of the game off the stick of Danielle Scarlett on a Stingers power play. By the end of the first period, the Stingers had fired 11 shots at their opponent’s goal.
The second period was defined by the constant parade of players heading to the penalty box. In the second, there were a total of nine two-minute minors between the two teams. Just over four minutes in, the Ravens capitalized on one of their four power play opportunities in the period. Carleton forward Sidney Weiss put the visiting team on the scoreboard and cut Concordia’s lead to just one. To the home crowd’s delight, that’s as close as the Ravens came to ruining the Stinger’s home opener.
Midway through the period, Concordia regained their two-goal advantage off a shot by Devon Thompson, giving her team a 3-1 lead. By the end of the second period, the Stingers had momentum and were outshooting the Ravens 19-11 in the contest.
Concordia’s final goal came from center Alyssa Sherrard with 12 minutes left in the game. The fifth-year veteran scored her second goal of the season and gave the Stingers a commanding 4-1 lead. Although the Ravens would respond shortly after with their second goal of the day, the game was already decided.
While she wasn’t tested very much in the first two periods of the game, Concordia’s goalie Briar Bache had to be sharp for her team in the final period of play. The Ravens refused to quit and put up a fight until the very end in Sunday’s matinee. The Ravens took it to the Stingers and outshot them 15-7 in the third. But Bache stood tall until the final whistle and ended the day with an impressive 24-save performance.
With the win, the women’s team improved to 1-1-1 on the season and moved into third place in the Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ) division.
