The final two games of the 2022 calendar year were played on Sunday as the Premier Hockey Federation schedule pauses for the holidays.
Boston Pride 4, Connecticut Whale 6
Connecticut became just the second team this season to beat Boston, doing so on home ice in a see-saw affair. Caitrin Lonergan scored her first two career goals to put the Whale up 2-0, only to see the Pride respond with two of their own from Olivia Zafuto who scored her first, and Loren Gabel who produced her sixth of the season. Katerina Mrazova’s second goal in three games made it 3-2 after the first period, then Gabel’s seventh and second of the contest knotted the score once again in the middle frame. Melissa Samoskevich scored less than a minute later with her first of the season, and Alyssa Wohlfeiler’s third of the campaign made it a 5-3 Whale lead after 40. Zafuto’s second tally brought Boston to within one with less than five to play in regulation, until Kennedy Marchment provided some empty-net insurance with her fourth of the year inside the final minute. The Whale outshot the Pride 53-30 as Meeri Raisanen earned her first win of the season, opposite Corinne Schroeder who suffered her first loss.
Montreal Force 4, Minnesota Whitecaps 1
The Force spread out their scoring over three periods to build a 3-0 lead and never looked back as they beat the Whitecaps to earn a weekend series split. Jade Downie-Landry’s fifth of the season came at 5:24 of the first period, Alexandra Labelle’s first career goal followed at 7:50 of the second period, and Sarah Lefort’s third of the campaign extended the lead at 6:25 of the final frame. Jonna Albers scored for the third straight game to give Minnesota some hope at the 8:15 mark, until Samantha Isbell iced it with an empty-net goal at 19:00 for her first in the PHF. Another first for Montreal came between-the-pipes as Marie-Soleil Deschenes picked up her first career victory with a 40-save performance. Amanda Leveille made 21 saves for Minnesota.
Cover photo by Jonathan Sawn
