November 25, 2012
Ravens claim 2012 OUA water polo title at home
OTTAWA - The Ravens won in a thrilling OUA final, beating their rivals the University of Toronto on Sunday in a shootout. It was 5-5 after two periods of overtime, but Kaity Sennema and Sarah McIlveen scored in the shootout for Carleton to edge the Blues.
The game was a repeat of last year’s finals in which the Ravens lost.
The first quarter was scoreless as the speed and intensity of the defence was obvious on both sides. Ravens’ goalie Evie Marshall made two big saves in the opening minute and a half, and just got a hand on a shot that was going top corner with 55 seconds left. Her performance in the tournament earned her the most valuable goaltender.
The scoreless tie was finally broken at 1:14 of the second quarter, as Maggie Burlington put one away for Toronto. Sarah McIlveen, who earned the most valuable player of the tournament, answered only 31 seconds later with a lob from way outside that just beat the outstretched fingertips of the Blues’ goalie.
Scoring struggles continued for both teams, as neither seemed to budge on defence. McIlveen put a rocket off the crossbar, but the next time down the pool she made no mistake on a pass down low from a teammate, and she fired a backhand shot without turning around to face the net. Her shot found the corner with 1:30 left in the half.
U of T fought to level things up going into the third, as Stephanie Watson netted one with only 19 seconds left. It was 2-2 at halftime, and neither team ever led by more than a goal.
McIlveen looked to complete her hat-trick early in the second half, sending a little lob over the goalie but not beating the post. Evie Marshall made a huge save for Carleton at the 2:13 mark to keep things level, as supporters chanted her name.
Annie Chinneck cleaned up the garbage off a Raven shot that was stopped, poking a floating ball off the line past the sprawling U of T goaltender. With 3:21 gone in the quarter, Carleton had a slim 3-2 lead. Toronto quickly answered, though, on their next play down the pool.
Back and forth they went, as Watson then got her second of the game for U of T putting Carleton down 4-3 going into the final frame of regulation.
The home fans were rowdy but nervous for 7 scoreless minutes in the fourth until Kaity Sennema saved the day.
“We didn’t even do the play we were supposed to do, she just got the ball and fired it,” said Sarah McIlveen post-game.
“I was terrified, actually, going into the last quarter. When [Sennema] scored that last goal, it just got the whole team pumped up. We were starting to go down.”
Sennema’s goal with 59 seconds left delighted home fans, and gave them some extra action to watch as the game went into overtime tied 4-4.
In the first of two 3-minute halves, McIlveen got her third consecutive hat-trick with another backhand goal with only 30 seconds remaining.
The teams switched sides, and Carleton had 3 more minutes to try to hang on to the 5-4 lead, but U of T had an answer. Stephanie Watson got her third goal of the game with exactly a minute left on the clock, and a 5-5 tie at the end of overtime forced the teams into a shootout.
Each team sent 5 shooters to the pool’s edge, and both of their first shooters couldn’t score. Watson then got one for Toronto, but McIlveen answered for the Ravens. Stephanie Lesaux-Farmer hit the crossbar for the Blues, and Veronica Rojas’ shot for Carleton was saved on their third shooters.
Toronto got unlucky again, hitting the post on their fourth shooter. Kaity Sennema swam up to save the day again for the Ravens just like she did at the end of regulation; she got the goalie to bite the wrong way, scoring the decisive goal. Megan MacLaine went up with a chance to tie things up for Toronto, but Evie Marshall was up to the task, saving it.
Marshall had a big grin post-game;
“I kind of talked to myself when I saved shots,” she said, then described her thoughts; “Just look for the ball, just wait for it, and it worked out luckily. A couple of them missed, so that was good,” she said laughing.
Head coach Steve Baird did a somersault into the pool to celebrate with his team after the win.
“In my whole coaching career, a couple of decades plus, that’s my first shoot out at all, and it was nice to have the victory,” said Baird.
He added that he was calm during the tie-breaker; “I knew the players that we picked could do it.”
Baird believes his team was better prepared for their Toronto rivals this season than last, and it was just enough to earn the OUA gold.
Raven Meaghan Broddy earned a spot on the tournament all-star team alongside McIlveen and Marshall.
Scoring summary (4 quarters + overtime)
Carleton: 0+2+1+1+1= 5
Toronto: 0+2+2+0+1 = 5
Shootout summary (5 shooters)
Carleton: 0+1+0+1+N/A= 2
Toronto: 0+1+0+0+0 = 1
2012 OUA WOMEN'S WATER POLO ALL-STARS AND MAJOR AWARDS
Most Valuable Player
Sarah McIlveen (Carleton)
Most Valuable Goalie
Evie Marshall (Carleton)
All-Stars
Meaghan Broddy (Carleton)
Danielle Hirsh (Toronto)
Stephanie Watson (Toronto)
Danielle McCallum (McMaster)
Nadine Asmis (McMaster)
Chantal Ouellette (Ottawa)
2012 OUA Women’s Water Polo Schedule
Friday, November 23
5:00 p.m. Ottawa vs Toronto 2-9
6:20 p.m. McMaster vs Queen’s 9-5
8:00 p.m. Carleton vs Ottawa 8-2
Saturday, November 24
12:50 p.m. McMaster vs Toronto 5-11
2:10 p.m. Carleton vs Queen’s 14-7
4:10 p.m. McMaster vs Ottawa 3-7
6:00 p.m. Carleton vs Toronto 9-6
7:20 p.m. Queen’s vs Ottawa 9-13
Sunday, November 25
9:00 a.m. Carleton vs McMaster 12-10
10:20 a.m. Queen’s vs Toronto 4-16
2:20 p.m. Ottawa vs McMaster 4-6 (Bronze)
3:50 p.m. Carleton vs Toronto 6-5 (Championship Game)
Source: Carleton Sports Info
The game was a repeat of last year’s finals in which the Ravens lost.
The first quarter was scoreless as the speed and intensity of the defence was obvious on both sides. Ravens’ goalie Evie Marshall made two big saves in the opening minute and a half, and just got a hand on a shot that was going top corner with 55 seconds left. Her performance in the tournament earned her the most valuable goaltender.
The scoreless tie was finally broken at 1:14 of the second quarter, as Maggie Burlington put one away for Toronto. Sarah McIlveen, who earned the most valuable player of the tournament, answered only 31 seconds later with a lob from way outside that just beat the outstretched fingertips of the Blues’ goalie.
Scoring struggles continued for both teams, as neither seemed to budge on defence. McIlveen put a rocket off the crossbar, but the next time down the pool she made no mistake on a pass down low from a teammate, and she fired a backhand shot without turning around to face the net. Her shot found the corner with 1:30 left in the half.
U of T fought to level things up going into the third, as Stephanie Watson netted one with only 19 seconds left. It was 2-2 at halftime, and neither team ever led by more than a goal.
McIlveen looked to complete her hat-trick early in the second half, sending a little lob over the goalie but not beating the post. Evie Marshall made a huge save for Carleton at the 2:13 mark to keep things level, as supporters chanted her name.
Annie Chinneck cleaned up the garbage off a Raven shot that was stopped, poking a floating ball off the line past the sprawling U of T goaltender. With 3:21 gone in the quarter, Carleton had a slim 3-2 lead. Toronto quickly answered, though, on their next play down the pool.
Back and forth they went, as Watson then got her second of the game for U of T putting Carleton down 4-3 going into the final frame of regulation.
The home fans were rowdy but nervous for 7 scoreless minutes in the fourth until Kaity Sennema saved the day.
“We didn’t even do the play we were supposed to do, she just got the ball and fired it,” said Sarah McIlveen post-game.
“I was terrified, actually, going into the last quarter. When [Sennema] scored that last goal, it just got the whole team pumped up. We were starting to go down.”
Sennema’s goal with 59 seconds left delighted home fans, and gave them some extra action to watch as the game went into overtime tied 4-4.
In the first of two 3-minute halves, McIlveen got her third consecutive hat-trick with another backhand goal with only 30 seconds remaining.
The teams switched sides, and Carleton had 3 more minutes to try to hang on to the 5-4 lead, but U of T had an answer. Stephanie Watson got her third goal of the game with exactly a minute left on the clock, and a 5-5 tie at the end of overtime forced the teams into a shootout.
Each team sent 5 shooters to the pool’s edge, and both of their first shooters couldn’t score. Watson then got one for Toronto, but McIlveen answered for the Ravens. Stephanie Lesaux-Farmer hit the crossbar for the Blues, and Veronica Rojas’ shot for Carleton was saved on their third shooters.
Toronto got unlucky again, hitting the post on their fourth shooter. Kaity Sennema swam up to save the day again for the Ravens just like she did at the end of regulation; she got the goalie to bite the wrong way, scoring the decisive goal. Megan MacLaine went up with a chance to tie things up for Toronto, but Evie Marshall was up to the task, saving it.
Marshall had a big grin post-game;
“I kind of talked to myself when I saved shots,” she said, then described her thoughts; “Just look for the ball, just wait for it, and it worked out luckily. A couple of them missed, so that was good,” she said laughing.
Head coach Steve Baird did a somersault into the pool to celebrate with his team after the win.
“In my whole coaching career, a couple of decades plus, that’s my first shoot out at all, and it was nice to have the victory,” said Baird.
He added that he was calm during the tie-breaker; “I knew the players that we picked could do it.”
Baird believes his team was better prepared for their Toronto rivals this season than last, and it was just enough to earn the OUA gold.
Raven Meaghan Broddy earned a spot on the tournament all-star team alongside McIlveen and Marshall.
Scoring summary (4 quarters + overtime)
Carleton: 0+2+1+1+1= 5
Toronto: 0+2+2+0+1 = 5
Shootout summary (5 shooters)
Carleton: 0+1+0+1+N/A= 2
Toronto: 0+1+0+0+0 = 1
2012 OUA WOMEN'S WATER POLO ALL-STARS AND MAJOR AWARDS
Most Valuable Player
Sarah McIlveen (Carleton)
Most Valuable Goalie
Evie Marshall (Carleton)
All-Stars
Meaghan Broddy (Carleton)
Danielle Hirsh (Toronto)
Stephanie Watson (Toronto)
Danielle McCallum (McMaster)
Nadine Asmis (McMaster)
Chantal Ouellette (Ottawa)
2012 OUA Women’s Water Polo Schedule
Friday, November 23
5:00 p.m. Ottawa vs Toronto 2-9
6:20 p.m. McMaster vs Queen’s 9-5
8:00 p.m. Carleton vs Ottawa 8-2
Saturday, November 24
12:50 p.m. McMaster vs Toronto 5-11
2:10 p.m. Carleton vs Queen’s 14-7
4:10 p.m. McMaster vs Ottawa 3-7
6:00 p.m. Carleton vs Toronto 9-6
7:20 p.m. Queen’s vs Ottawa 9-13
Sunday, November 25
9:00 a.m. Carleton vs McMaster 12-10
10:20 a.m. Queen’s vs Toronto 4-16
2:20 p.m. Ottawa vs McMaster 4-6 (Bronze)
3:50 p.m. Carleton vs Toronto 6-5 (Championship Game)
Source: Carleton Sports Info
