Boston crowned regular season champions, Loren Gabel wins scoring title
The Premier Hockey Federation (PHF) regular season came to an end over the weekend after a record 84 games were played since the beginning of November. The Boston Pride secured first place in the overall standings with a win over the second ranked Toronto Six, and the Connecticut Whale clinched third by beating the Minnesota Whitecaps in fourth. The Metropolitan Riveters finished in fifth place, wrapping up their season with two wins over the Buffalo Beauts who end behind the expansion Montreal Force. Pride newcomer Loren Gabel finished atop the PHF scoring charts with 40 points including 20 goals and 20 assists in 22 games.
Here’s a closer look at the results, top performers, and notable highlights:
FRIDAY MARCH 10, 2023
Game 79
Buffalo Beauts 2
Metropolitan Riveters 5
Box Score | Highlights
The Riveters scored four unanswered goals over the final two periods to beat Buffalo led by Madison Packer and Amanda Pelkey with a goal and assist each, plus three helpers by Sarah Bujold.
SATURDAY MARCH 11, 2023
Game 80
Boston Pride 3
Toronto Six 2
Box Score | Highlights
Loren Gabel and Olivia Zafuto scored second period goals 45 seconds apart to erase a 2-1 deficit and lift Boston to victory over Toronto to clinch first place in the overall standings.
Game 81
Buffalo Beauts 2
Metropolitan Riveters 3
Box Score | Highlights
Fanni Gasparics scored a third period power play goal to break a 2-2 tie and lift the Riveters to a weekend sweep over the Beauts, ending the season with four-straight wins for the first time since 2017-18.
Game 82
Connecticut Whale 3
Minnesota Whitecaps 0
Box Score | Highlights
Abbie Ives stopped all 25 shots to record her third shutout of the season and Kennedy Marchment scored her league-leading sixth game-winning goal as Connecticut beat Minnesota to clinch third place.
SUNDAY MARCH 12, 2023
Game 83
Connecticut Whale 3
Minnesota Whitecaps 1
Box Score | Highlights
Third period goals by Alyssa Wohlfeiler, Hannah Bates, and a Janine Weber empty-netter led the Whale to a weekend sweep over the Whitecaps and six-straight wins to end the season.
Game 84
Boston Pride 4
Toronto Six 5
Box Score | Highlights
T6 ended the 2022-23 campaign on a high note with a split weekend and season series against the Pride led by Michela Cava, Shiann Darkangelo, and Daryl Watts all scoring a goal and an assist.
BOSTON TOPS FINAL STANDINGS
After a record 84-game schedule the Boston Pride (19-4-1) are regular season champions finishing atop the overall standings with 54 points. This marks the fourth time in eight seasons they’ve achieved the feat following 2015-16, 2016-17, and the 2019-20 campaign when they won a record 23 games. Their victory on Saturday was their 100th all-time and now carry an overall mark of 100-31-11. The Toronto Six (17-5-2) have 51 points and finish in second place for a second-straight season and have improved their three-year record to 37-9-4. The Connecticut Whale (14-8-2) recorded their second-best season in franchise history finishing in third place with 43 points and now have an all-time record of 56-74-10 over eight seasons since the league’s inauguration. The Minnesota Whitecaps (10-11-3) finish in fourth place with 33 points and their third highest win total since joining the league in 2018-19 and have amassed an all-time mark of 48-34-6. The Metropolitan Riveters (11-13-0) finish in fifth place with 30 points and their highest win total since 2017-18 to improve their all-time totals to 58-72-9. The Montreal Force (8-14-2) finished their expansion season in sixth place with 23 points. The Buffalo Beauts (5-16-3) finish in seventh place with 18 points and are at the bottom of the standings a third-straight season lowering their all-time totals to 55-75-11.
GABEL CAPTURES SCORING TITLE
Boston’s Loren Gabel is the 2022-23 PHF scoring champion, finishing the season with 40 points in 22 games which ties teammate Jillian Dempsey’s single season record set over 24 games in 2019-20. The newcomer from Kitchener, Ontario led the way with 20 goals and 20 assists and is the league’s first offensive triple crown winner since the Pride’s Hilary Knight in the inaugural 2015-16 season. Montreal’s Jade Downie-Landry finished tied for seventh in scoring but led all first-year collegiate graduates with 23 points including 10 goals and 13 assists in 24 games. Toronto’s Kati Tabin led all PHF defenders in scoring with 18 points including four goals and 14 assists in 24 games.
PRIDE AND T6 SPLIT WEEKEND AND SEASON
If the top seeded Boston and Toronto meet again this season it will be for the Isobel Cup Championship, and they’ll enter that matchup having won two games apiece in head-to-head action that included three one-goal games. Even though the Pride finished first in the standings, if there’s any consolation to T6 it’s that they earned a 7-5 points advantage by virtue of an overtime decision back on Nov. 26, outscored their opponent 16-13, and outshot them by 15 overall. This is also the only season series that Boston did not win in 2022-23. Toronto now holds a 5-4 all-time lead in regular season competition after two-straight split seasons plus one victory in the shortened 2021 campaign.
WHALE WIN OVER WHITECAPS
Connecticut won six-straight games to end the regular season which included a second-straight weekend series sweep. They beat Minnesota three times in this season’s head-to-head including two shutout victories for an overall 9-3 points advantage in the standings and an 11-5 showing on the scoreboard. They also outshot them in all four contests with a total differential of 58. Since losing the first 12-straight matchups from 2018-20, the Whale have won seven of the last eight in two seasons to narrow the gap on the Whitecaps’ 13-7 all-time lead. Minnesota has now dropped a franchise-long eight-straight games which has resulted in one season split and three-straight season series defeats. Both playoff-bound teams could potentially meet again in the Isobel Cup final.
RIVETERS REIGN OVER BEAUTS
The Riveters finished the season with four-straight wins which counts as their longest streak since 2017-18 and earned them two-straight weekend and season series victories. They beat the Beauts in three of their four head-to-head games in 2022-23 for a 9-3 points advantage and outscored them 17-10. They also outshot them in all four games with an overall differential of 84 where three of the games accounted for their highest three shot totals of the season. Buffalo finishes the season with five-straight losses and just two season series splits but maintains a 19-17 all-time lead over their bitter Founding Four rivals since 2015-16.
RIVETERS, T6, WHITECAPS END AT HOME
The Riveters new home at American Dream produced the franchise’s highest single season win total with an overall record of 7-5. It was a roller coaster season inside the entertainment complex where they won their opener, lost five-straight, but then finished with six victories in a row to equal their most successful home stretch of 2017-18. Minnesota also moved into a new home at Richfield Ice Arena but did not have the same good fortune. The Whitecaps had their most disappointing season at home since joining the league in 2018-19 playing to a 3-8-1 record that included seven-straight losses in front of their fans. After playing to a perfect 10-0 record at Canlan York last season, Toronto’s home record in 2022-23 was 8-3-1 which counts as the league’s second-best mark behind Boston’s 11-1.
BEAUTS, PRIDE, WHALE WRAP UP ON THE ROAD
Boston’s record away from Warrior Ice Arena was a solid 8-3-1 which included an early four-game winning-streak and counts as the league’s second best behind Toronto’s 9-3. The 2019-20 Pride hold the best single season road record at 11-1. Connecticut won equal games at home as they did on the road but squeaked out a couple of extra points in travel losses for an overall mark of 7-3-2 which ties Minnesota for third best in the category. Last season the Whale won seven of their 10 road games. Buffalo won three-straight games away from Northtown Center this season for the first time since 2018-19 and finished with an overall road record of 3-8-1 which was a touch better than their mark at home.
GABEL, SCHROEDER HEADLINE BOSTON’S BEST
Loren Gabel led Boston and the league in all offensive categories with 40 points, 20 goals, 20 assists, and with 146 shots on goal in 22 games. Captain Jillian Dempsey had the second-best season of her eight-year career, finishing behind Gabel with 28 points including 14 goals and 14 assists in 24 games. She’s yet to miss a game in her entire career with 142 and continues to lead the PHF in all major offensive categories all-time with 146 points, 70 goals, and 76 assists. Élizabeth Giguère made an immediate impact after her NCAA career, finishing third in team scoring with 22 points in 18 games. Kali Flanagan was the team’s top scoring defender with 16 points in 21 games. Between-the-pipes, rookie Corinne Schroeder set PHF single season records with 19 wins, eight shutouts, 761 saves, and posted a league-leading goals-against-average of 1.67 and save percentage of .955.
HOWARD AND TABIN TOP T6 CHARTS
Newcomer Brittany Howard led Toronto in scoring with 26 points including 16 goals in 20 games as was in the thick of the scoring race before missing four of her last eight games due to injury. Kati Tabin led T6 with 14 assists and was the league’s top scoring defender with 18 points in 24 games. Original T6 veterans Shiann Darkangelo and Emma Woods both set career-highs in all offensive categories including points with 25 and 23 respectively. Captain Darkangelo also led the league with 338 faceoff wins and a .612 winning percentage at the dot and finished the year as the franchise leader with 48 career points including 20 goals and 28 assists in 50 games. In goal, Elaine Chuli finished second in the PHF with 12 wins, but backup Carly Jackson was the only netminder to go unbeaten with a 5-0 record and posted a goals-against-average of 1.90 and save percentage of .926 that was second only to Schroeder in limited action.
MARCHMENT SETS NEW WHALE HIGHS
Kennedy Marchment finished second in PHF scoring with 35 points in 24 games which set a new Whale single season record, surpassing the 33 points in 20 games she produced last season. Her 18-game point-streak established a new PHF single season record while becoming the first in league history to record two seasons with 30 points. Her 68 points top Connecticut’s all-time charts, as do her 30 goals, while her 17 this season are a new team-high which included a league-leading six game-winners. Her 18 assists tied Taylor Girard who finished second on the team with 28 points in 24 games including a record four shorthanded goals. Caitrin Lonergan was the team’s top scoring newcomer, finishing third with 18 points in 23 games, and Allie Munroe led defenders with 16 points in 24 games. Shannon Turner recorded seven assists in 23 games and continues holding those franchise records of 43 assists and 132 games. Abbie Ives finished third in the crease with 10 wins, second with three shutouts, and third among starters with a goals-against-average of 2.57.
ALBERS AND SNODGRASS TIE FOR WHITECAPS LEAD
Jonna Albers and Natalie Snodgrass both recorded 10 goals and 20 points to lead Minnesota scoring this season with the veteran producing her totals over 24 games compared to the newcomer’s 22. Albers became the first in Whitecaps history and fastest in the PHF to record 100 career points and holds that total with 42 goals and 58 assists in her franchise leading 85 games since joining the PHF in 2018-19. The pair also had 10 assists which tied for the most alongside defenders Sidney Morin and Patti Marshall who tallied 17 and 12 points respectively. Rookie Liz Schepers fits in between with 14 points in 22 games and led the team with 206 faceoff wins and a .542 efficiency. Amanda Leveille finished second among starting goaltenders with a goals-against-average of 2.43 and save percentage of .923 while adding nine wins to her all-time leading total of 61 over 95 games.
RIVS VETS PACKER AND BABSTOCK DELIVER
The Metropolitan Riveters had just three returning players from last season, and two of them tied for the team’s scoring lead with 21 points in 24 games including Madison Packer and Kelly Babstock. Packer led the way with 11 goals and built on her franchise leading totals of 65 goals, 64 assists, 129 points, and 131 games. Babstock became the sixth all-time to join the century club for games and now ranks fourth all-time with 96 points in 112 contests. Sarah Bujold was the team’s top scoring newcomer with 10 goals and 20 points in 23 games, while first-year Riveter Amanda Pelkey produced a career-high 19 points in 24 games playing in her fourth PHF season. Defender Minttu Tuominen had 14 points in 24 games including nine goals which is second most in a single PHF season by a player at the position, while her six power play goals are the most on record. Katie Burt led the team with 10 starts, winning five with a goals-against-average of 2.78 and save percentage of .903.
GRANT-MENTIS MAKES HER MARK IN BUFFALO
Mikyla Grant-Mentis led the Beauts in scoring with 21 points including 12 assists in 24 games after being the team’s top offseason signing. Her point total is the second best in franchise history following Taylor Accursi’s 25 in 2019-20. She also led the squad with 75 shots on goal and 209 faceoff wins. Claudia Kepler finished second with 16 points in 24 games and led the way with 10 goals. Newcomers Courtney Maud and Summer-Rae Dobson were next in line with 11 points in 24 games each. Captain Dominique Kremer led the blue line with 10 points in 23 games a season after earning Defender of the Year honors. Lovisa Berndtsson started 12 games and won twice, while recent acquisition Samantha Ridgewell won two times in five starts and posted a goals-against-average of 2.68 and save percentage of .922. Cassidy MacPherson became the franchise’s all-time leader in games played with 74.
SCORING STREAKS
Connecticut’s Kennedy Marchment enters the playoffs riding a record 18-game point-streak, followed by Boston’s top scoring Loren Gabel who extended her active streak to 11-straight games. Toronto’s Dominika Lásková and Darryl Watts have generated points in three-straight games heading into postseason play, while Riveters Madison Packer and Minttu Tuominen wrapped up their seasons with three-game streaks.
The 2023 Isobel Cup Playoffs begin on Thursday with Game One of Boston and Minnesota’s best-of-three semifinal. Toronto hosts Connecticut in Game One of their semifinal on Friday. For more information about the 2023 Isobel Cup Playoffs visit premierhockeyfederation.com/playoffs.
Cover photo by Michelle Jay
