1/23/23
By Abbi Holt
Rolling into Sunday with a 5 game winning streak, nine All-Stars, and sitting atop of the table, The Boston Pride looked nearly invincible. But, it turns out rookie goalkeeper Corrine Scroeder is in fact human and not a brick wall. And despite a strong effort, the Pride can be defeated. The Montréal Force played giant slayer, winning in overtime 2-1.
The Pride started the same six from yesterday with Loren Gabel, Jillian Dempsey, Élizabeth Giguere in the front, Kaleigh Fratkin and Kali Flanagan behind, and Corinne Schroeder in goal.
Boston started off a little shaky with a minor penalty by Aneta Tejralová for hooking. Though the Force failed to capitalize on the early power play that followed, they did force a couple of saves from Schroeder. The Pride’s defense didn’t make it easy to get those shots off, which led to the opposition passing back and forth around the perimeter, waiting for chances to shoot.
Taylor House committed a hooking penalty around the 6 minute mark. Although they did hit the bar, the Force again failed to score.
Boston got two power plays in the second half of the period and got a bunch of shots off in quick succession. The in-house DJ at Rivière-du-Loup decided to play the Imperial March from Star Wars for the second Boston powerplay which definitely begs the question of which Boston player is Darth Vader. Sadly, like the Empire, Boston is thwarted and we end the first period scoreless. Cue the supposed villains stalking off screen in frustration.
The second period started with a bunch of turnovers and the puck zipped back and forth for a bit. As the period wore on however, Boston’s defense looked increasingly tired and seemed unable to clear the puck as quickly, allowing more rebounds than usual. Finally, Taylor Baker got one past the excellent Schroeder from a wild angle for the first goal of her PHF career.
Loren Gabel was clearly plotting her revenge in the second break because twelve seconds into the 3rd period she grabbed the puck from the drop and skated in an arching loop past several defenders to score off the post, making it look easy. She is clearly putting her hat in the ring for the role of supervillain!
Montréal reacted quickly and pressed hard, leading to a prolonged scrum in front of the Boston goal, but the Force were unable to score. Boston got a few good chances in the third, with Loren Gabel playing some beautiful no-look passes to Élizabeth Giguère, but the game remained all tied up. Regular time ended even and we turned to extra time.
The Pride started extra time with Loren Gabel, Kali Flanagan and Élizabeth Giguère vs Ann-Sophie Bettez, Jade Downie-Landry, and Cathrine Daoust of the Force. Gabel quickly took a great shot, forcing her defender to overskate her with a toe drag then shooting, but keeper Marie-Soleil Deschênes made the save. Allie Thunstrom had a couple of good almost identical shots high and from the right, but neither went in, both stopped by Deschênes’s glove.
Montreal’s Christine Deaudelin had a flurry of shots but then collided knee to knee with Sammy Davis who was charged with a foul. Unfortunately, EMTs needed to carry Deaudelin from the ice on a stretcher with her leg immobilized. After a long delay the players returned to the ice with Montréal up a player. Less than a minute into the power play, Montréal scored, thanks in part to a great screen by Alexandra Labelle and the game ended with two points going to the Force.
Following the game, the Force provided this update on Christine Deaudelin’s condition:
Next game is at home on February 4th against Riveters who are currently sixth in the table. The next four games will be broadcast on ESPN+ and NESN.
Boston Women's Sports 
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