Weekend Recap: Gee-Gees win thriller against Ravens, upset top-ranked Carabins

The Gee-Gees women's hockey team (5-10) earned two big wins in the past week as they beat the Carleton Ravens (2-10-3) 5-4 in overtime on Thursday evening, and the U SPORTS #1 ranked Montréal Carabins (11-3) 3-2 on Saturday afternoon, giving them three wins in their last four games.

 In Thursday's action against the Ravens, the fourth of five regular season games the two teams will play, both teams were looking to get their seasons jumpstarted and make a push into the playoff race.

 Despite falling into an early 2-0 hole in the first period, the Gee-Gees were able to cut the lead in half before the end of the period thanks to fourth year forward Roxanne Rioux's third goal of the season.

 In an action packed and penalty filled second period, the Gee-Gees took their first lead of the game after scoring two goal in the first 10 minutes of the period, by fourth years Mélodie Bouchard and Laurence Morissette, however the Ravens were able to answer late in the period tying the game at 3 heading into the final period.

 In the third period the Ravens were once again able to take a lead, bit the Gee-Gees kept fighting and were able to force overtime thanks to a final minute goal by Marimée Godbout-Parent.

 In the overtime period the Gee-Gees made short work of the Ravens as Mélodie Bouchard scored her second goal of the game and her third of the season just 39 seconds into the extra frame.

 "At this point in the season all of the games are playoff type games based on our position in the standings", said head coach Yanick Evola. "I give a lot of credit to our players for keeping their composure tonight. They were leading 2-0 and we came back, so it was a huge game for us".

 On Saturday, the Gee-Gees looked to keep the momentum rolling as they took on the top-ranked Carabins, who had won the three previous matchups between the two teams this season.

 Picking up right where she left off the previous game, Bouchard scored just 22 seconds into the game after displaying some fast hands by collecting a pass in tight and getting it past the Carabins goalie. The Gee-Gees continued the early pressure and scored less than a minute and a half later as Katherine Birkby notched her first goal of the season stunning the Carabins.

 After the Carabins cut the lead to one goal, Roxanne Rioux scored on a beautiful solo rush to push the lead to 3-1, which was ultimately too much for the Carabins to overcome.

 Maude Lévesque-Ryan was outstanding in goal for the Gee-Gees stopping 42 of the 44 shots she faced, including making a number of excellent saves in the third period to preserve the Gee-Gees one goal lead and upset over the Carabins.

 The Gee-Gees will look to continue their hot streak as they travel to Montreal for a rematch against the Carabins on Sunday, February 3^rd. The game will be streamed live on the Carabins YouTube channel.