The Minnesota Frost hosted the Toronto Sceptres for Game 4 of Round 1 on Wednesday evening, May 14. The Frost looked to eliminate the Sceptres with a win, while the Sceptres looked to keep their season alive. The only change to the roster was actually the same on both sides, and that was goaltending. In the past two games, it was Maddie Rooney for the Frost against Kristen Campbell for the Sceptres. In Game 4, it was Nicole Hensley in for the Frost and Carly Jackson in for the Sceptres.
The game started out tilted in favor of the Sceptres, but the Frost pushed back after trailing in both the first and second periods; they went into the third tied 2-2. Each team had a goal in the third, and overtime was needed for a winner. The Frost’s star Taylor Heise scored, secured the 4-3 win, and their spot in the Walter Cup Final. In this article, we’ll look at how they did it, starting with their goaltender, Hensley.
Frost’s Hensley Shows Her Talents
After the Frost’s loss in Game 1, and Rooney playing Games 2 and 3, Hensley was ready for Game 4. The first goal against was one she’d want back as it was on a breakaway, and Julia Gosling snuck it in through the five-hole. However, some of that blame is on her teammates on the ice, who allowed Gosling to get through. The second goal against her was a shot she couldn’t see and react to until too late.
Regardless, Hensley stood tall through the entire game and made the big saves that kept her team in it and gave them the chance to tie it up going into the third. She made a lot of strong glove saves but also some big leg saves that looked like they should’ve gone in. Without Hensley, the Sceptres likely could’ve made it 3-0 or even 4-0.
She continued to get better through the game even after letting a goal slip by in the third. Then, in overtime, she saved the game multiple times and helped her team earn the win. Hopefully, she can keep up the strong play as it’s likely the Frost will continue to put her in the net in the Walter Cup Final.
“She played outstanding, she was a difference maker for us….the coaches all talked and she had played really well in the last two games of the year to get us into the playoffs and then she played well in the Game 1 in Toronto. We started slow, we spotted three goals and then we started coming back and made it 3-2 but just couldn’t get over the hump and it certainly wasn’t anything because of her so and then it was like okay Maddie’s (Rooney) had a couple and she got wins and so let’s get Nic (Hensley) back in there because we know we’re goint to need both of them,” said head coach Ken Klee in the postgame press conference on the decision to change to Hensley.
Frost Crash the Net
Earlier in the season, there was at least one game, if not two, where the Frost scored multiple goals off a tipped shot. This has been very effective for them this season and was how they got on the board twice in Game 4. Jackson has a strong glove hand, and the Frost were able to get past her by tipping the puck before she could get her glove or pad on it.
While the third goal was plain hard work to crash the net and get the rebound, the game winner wasn’t a tip, but it was a screened shot, which meant being in front of the net. They do really well when they crowd the net, and that’s something they have to continue to do if they want to win games. It’s a strong suit that not every team has, but when the Frost uses it, they are a hard team to beat.
“It takes everybody in little ways, big ways. You think about that game and whether there’s a big play or a little play or chip puck or chip out here, Nic Hensley making a breakaway save in overtime and you talked about Taylor’s (Heise) goal, go back to that play…it’s a game of inches, it’s a game of mistakes. I think at times games aren’t won, they’re lost, and it took everybody tonight, as it did this entire series, and that’s what it’s going to take moving forward,” said Kendall Coyne-Schofield after the game about how her line stepped up.
Frost Need to be Mindful of Puck Possession
While the Frost did control the play at times throughout the game, they also made some very careless plays with their passing. There were a few times they made a cross-ice pass directly onto the stick of a Sceptres player, and that’s something that can’t happen. A couple of those passes were right in front of Hensley as well, and she stepped up to make the save, but they need to be more careful.
They did tighten it up a bit as the game went on, but there were some close calls that thankfully Hensley was ready for. In the postgame press conference, both their coach and players acknowledged they have mistakes to clean up, and they will be better for the final round when it starts.
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“I mean it’s good, it’s for me, we try to worry about ourselves. Not knowing who we’re going to play, right now it’s just about us cleaning up our details. When our details are good, we look like a team that can put up seven goals, and when we’re not, we’re in a dogfight. So, for us, we worry about ourselves really, try to clean up, but then once the series is done, we’ll have prescout done on them, and we play each other five times through the year, so we have a pretty good idea of their players as well,” said Klee in the postgame press conference about how to prepare for the next team they have to face.
Frost Get to Defend
The Frost have now earned the chance to defend their Walter Cup from last season as they took down the Sceptres in one game sooner than in the past season. They struggled to get things going at first, but once they found their step, they kept going full speed ahead. Hopefully, they can build off this win, fix their mistakes, and be ready to go when the final round starts sometime next week.
