BOSTON Stroke Laing and Taylor Wenczkowski have marked playstore’s digital Pride parade in Boston became the first winners, twice cutting Isobel with a 4-3 victory on the Champions league title of the Whitecaps Minnesota Saturday night.
It was an NWHL championship that the Pride, champions of the regular season, wanted to win a year earlier, before THE recent times forced the cancellation of the championship match between these two teams just two days before the clash.
The goal by Wenczkowski, who made the mark on 4-2 with 6:28 to play turned out to be the game while it ended frantically.
Tereza Vanisova of Boston was doing 2:25 from behind for a 5-minute main test. The Whitecaps also pulled goaltender Amanda Leveille at the same time, but did not score 6-4 until 19.4 seconds into the game, when Meaghan Pezon sank the puck in a melee.
But Boston, which dominated the confrontations 39-18, won the last tie, thanks to Laing, and the Pride won its first championship since the inaugural.
“We finally made it and I’m so proud of our team,” said Boston’s captain and Cup MVP Jillian Dempsey, the Premier League’s only player. “Congratulations also to Minnesota. They really made it a action until the very last second.”
Boston’s goaltender Lovisa Selander made 27 saves.
After Allie Thunstrom gave Minnesota a 1-0 lead in the first period, la Pride scored three goals in the second period. Mary Parker created equality, Dempsey found the top corner removed from the bottom of the circle, then Laing conceded a numerical advantage at 5 to 3.
With 12:21 to play in the third period, the Pride had pressure on the goal when defenseman Amanda Abaculier was called for hiding the puck in the crease. Boston had a choice between a penalty shot or a power play and decided to give Tori Sullivan the penalty shot that Leveille had stopped.
Just 13 seconds after, Thunstrom scored his second goal, the fourth of the weekend, to bring the mark to 3-2 and prepare for the frenetic final match.
“(The arrival) looked like the longest 19 seconds of my life,” said Boston defenseman Kaleigh Fratkin, who has played in the NWHL since its inception. “Lexie Laing was an incredible center for us, she won the draw and Lauren Kelly was incredulous for us this year on the D-end, she sent the puck and finished her. A great way to bring the last 19 seconds home.”
Even the shortened season, played in a bubble in Lake Placid, New York, was discontinued in early February as the six teams played between three and seven games and the four playoff teams had not played since early February.
Minnesota, which went 3-1 in the bubble, won 2-1 in their only game against Boston (3-4) on Jan. 23.
Boston, fourth head in a row, reached the championship game with a 6-2 victory over Toronto, First head in a row (4-1-1) in the semifinals with six different players. Minnesota defeated Connecticut (2-2) 7-0 behind a hat trick by Audra Richards and two goals from Thunstrom.
