The Minnesota Frost and Ottawa Charge met up for the first time this season in St. Paul, MN on Thursday evening, Dec. 19. While it had only been a couple days for Charge fans since their last game, for Frost fans, it was the first time their team was back on home ice in over two weeks and 4,686 fans turned out to see their team. There were no injuries reported until the middle of the third period when Sophie Jaques for the Frost was hit behind the net and left the game.
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The goaltending battle was between Maddie Rooney for the Frost and Gwyneth Philips for the Charge; they kept it a close game all night. The game started in the Charge’s favor, but as time went on, Frost found their game and took the lead, winning 5-2. This moved the Frost to a record of 3-0-1 and the Charge to 1-3-1.
Game Recap
The Frost had some strong chances to begin the game, but then the Charge capitalized on a shot from the point that was tipped past a screened Rooney. Anna Meixner tipped the shot from Jincy Roese and Tereza Vanišová to put their team up 1-0 and looked to take control. The Frost answered back a few minutes later on a wrap-around style backhand goal by Kelly Pannek, with Claire Thompson and Natalie Buchbinder assisting. Despite some more scoring chances, the first period would end tied at one apiece.
In the second period, the Frost took control as Pannek scored her second goal on the power play, with the lone assist going to Kendall Coyne-Schofield. Both sides had some strong chances, but the Frost would get the upper hand again before the period ended. Grace Zumwinkle scored the Frost’s second power-play goal to end the period up 3-1. Taylor Heise and Thompson assisted on the goal.
In the third period, the Charge found a way to answer back as Vanišová snuck her way around the Frost’s defense and beat Rooney to make it 3-2 with plenty of time to tie the game up. The Frost’s Thompson answered back to make it 4-2 with Heise and Brooke Bryant assisting with less than five minutes to go in the game. The Frost would add one more goal with Zumwinkle getting her second of the night on an empty net with just over a minute to play and made it 5-2. She was assisted by Thompson.
The Frost will now head on the road to face the New York Sirens for the second time this season on Sunday, Dec. 22. The Charge will remain on the road as they face the New York Sirens but not until after Christmas on Sunday, Dec. 29.
