The puck has dropped on a new calendar year in the Premier Hockey Federation with a full weekend of games to start 2023, beginning with a rematch of last season’s Isobel Cup final.
Boston Pride 5, Connecticut Whale 2
The defending champions made an early statement with a bounce-back victory to start the New Year and avenged a pre-holiday loss to Connecticut in Simsbury. Christina Putigna scored the first of four-straight Boston goals to open the contest and finished the game with two points. Elizabeth Giguere also had two points including a power play goal, while Taylor Wenczkowski and Jillian Dempsey added middle frame markers of their own. The Whale’s offense came late in the second period with Taylor Girard’s third shorthanded goal of the season, plus an even-strength tally by Justine Reyes three seconds before the buzzer. Loren Gabel’s empty-net goal completed a three-point performance and put her into a tie for the PHF scoring lead with 16 points. Corinne Schroeder stopped 38 shots for her eighth win of the season. Abbie Ives took the loss but turned aside 19.
Cover photo by Jonathan Sawn (Sawncraft Photography)
