Story by Abbi Holt, Edited by Laura Everett
Saturday March 11, 2022
The Boston Pride came out on top in Toronto, in a 3-2, hard fought game. The athletes played with an intensity that showed an awareness of how much was at stake in the game. A win of any kind and Boston would clinch first place in the league for the season and thus face the weaker of the two potential playoff opponents. The Toronto Six could have clinched first place if they had a win in regulation and at least a second win in overtime on Sunday.
Given that Toronto had more of a hill to climb to clinch that first place advantage, it’s not surprising they came out hard, with Breanne Wilson-Bennett scoring quickly in the third minute of the game off a poorly controlled rebound.
Boston showed their quality when they weren’t disheartened by that quick strike. Taylor Wenczkowski got the puck out of a battle at the boards and passed quickly to Christina Putigna who was wide open at the opposite side of the goal and slapped it home easily around Toronto Goalie Elaine Chuli.
Toronto kept up their intensity, however, and in the pressure, Corinne Schroeder committed an uncharacteristic mistake when she clearly thought she had trapped the puck and missed that it had bounced up and over her pads. It was an easy tap-in for late-season signing Daryl Watts and the first period ended 1-2 in favor of Toronto.
The momentum finally shifted in the second period, however, when penalties started flying and the teams were playing 4-on-4. Loren Gabel, with her characteristic speed, whipped in and intercepted a pass just outside of the neutral zone in Boston territory and took it all the way down to score. Gabel slapped it through the goalie’s legs and then raised her hands even before the puck went in. She followed it up with a favorite one-legged celly. With 20 goals on the season and leading the league, we support it.
Boston closed out the night with one more goal from Olivia Zafuto who managed to get herself in some very open space in the zone and then drove in a pass from Christina Putigna. It is notable that Boston was able to hold the Six, who dropped the most goals in a game on them of any team this season, scoreless for two periods. It will be very interesting to see what happens tomorrow when the teams meet again, especially given that it is possible these two teams will meet again in the PHF final.
The second game in the series against the Six will be at 2 pm on Sunday. Tickets are available here and the game is streaming on ESPN Plus with links posted here next to the game information.
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