The Ottawa Charge hosted the Boston Fleet on Saturday, March 15, for their fourth meeting of the 2024-25 Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) season. The Fleet have taken the victory in the first three games, and they continued their win streak today. The Fleet took home a 5-2 victory.
Game Recap
Despite Boston taking two penalties and Ottawa taking one, no goals were scored in the first period. The period ended with Boston taking seven shots on goal and Ottawa taking nine.
Seven minutes into the second period, Tereza Vanisova took a seat for tripping. Boston made quick work of scoring on the power play a minute later. Shay Maloney received the puck near the goal line off a pass from Susanna Tapani. She passed to Hilary Knight who was in front of the net. Gwyneth Philips made the save, but Alina Muller was on the other side of the goal line. She took a shot and the puck made its way into the back of the net.
With just a second left in the second, the Charge tied the game. Shiann Darkangelo passed the puck around the boards where it found Ronja Savolainen. She sent the puck into the neutral zone with a hard pass, which Vanisova was able to pick up. She out-skated the two Fleet players who flanked her, and as Aerin Frankel came out of the crease to try to pick up the puck, she possessed it. She skated up to the wide-open net and scored at the last possible second to tie the game.
Two minutes into the third period, the visitors broke the tie. Hannah Brandt picked up the puck off a missed play by the Charge. She passed it around the boards for Emily Brown at the blue line. Brown took the shot, but Theresa Schafzahl directed the puck into the net to bring Boston to two goals.
Ten minutes later, their lead was extended by none other than Knight. Jill Saulnier kicked a rebounded puck out of the Charge’s offensive zone. On a breakaway, Knight picked up the loose puck and skated to the net. She outpaced the two Charge players defending her. She took a shot and scored the third goal of the game for Boston.
With two minutes left to go, the Charge pulled Philips in an attempt to make a comeback. Off a missed pass, Saulnier possessed the puck and began skating up to the net. She passed to Knight who accompanied her. She passed it back to Saulnier, who took the shot as she was falling to the ice. Despite her fall, the puck found its target in the back of the net.
With 49 seconds left in the third, Lexie Adjiza scored a second empty-net goal to solidify the victory. She stole the puck away from Ottawa as the Charge tried to get into their offensive zone. She took a quick shot on the net and the puck found its way into the empty goal.
20 seconds later, the Charge finally got one back. Victoria Bach took a shot, which was stopped by Frankel. Natalie Snodgrass picked up the rebound and tipped the puck into the net to bring the Charge to two goals for the night. Snodgrass’ first of the season was not enough to keep the Charge in the game at this point; the Fleet took the victory here.
Next Up
The Fleet will head back home and get ready to host the Montreal Victoire on Tuesday, March 18. The Charge will head down state side as well, where they will play the New York Sirens on Saturday, March 22.
