The University of Windsor Lancers women's hockey team dropped a tightly contested 4–3 shootout decision to the Carleton Ravens on Friday (Jan. 16) morning in Ottawa, Ont. during the Ravens school day game, with an energetic crowd filling the Advanced Capital Ice House on Carleton campus.
STATS
Carleton finished with a 43–34 edge in shots, while Windsor received a strong performance from goaltender Rebecca Noble, who turned aside 39 shots over regulation and overtime. Kaitlyn Langille stopped 31 shots for the Ravens and earned the shootout win. Both teams converted once on seven power-play opportunities.
Windsor goals came from Rowan Hu, Elissa Benjamin, and Staysha Hiebert, with Keana McKibbin scoring in the shootout. Carleton's scoring in regulation was provided by Nicole Hunter, Ashlyn Carter, and Olwen Jones, while Hunter and Jones added shootout markers.
GAME FLOW
The opening 20 minutes were evenly played and scoreless, with Windsor setting the tone early by outshooting Carleton 14–6. Despite several quality chances at both ends, neither team was able to break through before the first intermission.
Carleton opened the scoring almost at the mid way point of the second period when Nicole Hunter capitalized on an unassisted opportunity. The Ravens then surged late in the frame, as Ashlyn Carter doubled the lead, followed shortly after by a power-play goal from Olwen Jones to make it 3–0. The Lancers answered back quickly, with Rowan Hu finding the back of the net less than 20 seconds later, and Elissa Benjamin firing home a late marker to pull Windsor within one heading into the third.
Windsor completed the comeback in the final period when Staysha Hiebert converted on the power play to knot the game at three goals apiece. The remainder of regulation featured end-to-end action, but strong goaltending kept the game tied and forced overtime.
The Lancers controlled play for most of the seven-minute overtime period, coming close on multiple chances but unable to put one past Langille. Neither team could find a winner in the extra frame, setting up a shootout.
After Benjamin was stopped on her opening move, the Ravens opened the scoring in the shootout on a speedy backhand move by Hunter, but McKibbin responded with a quick five-hole shot to even the score. The second Raven shooter fired her shot high, leaving it to the final shooter from each team. Bridget Cameron's move to the backhand was stopped on a last-second pad stretch save from Langille, and Jones sealed the game for the Ravens with a slick move of her own.
UP NEXT
Carleton ultimately claimed the victory, scoring twice in the tiebreaker to secure the 4–3 win despite Windsor's late push and resilient performance. The Lancers stay in Ottawa for tomorrow's matchup, where they will face the Ottawa Gee-Gees on Saturday (Jan. 17) afternoon at 3 p.m. The game can be streamed live on oua.tv.
