Marie-Philip Poulin led Team Harvey’s to their second consecutive undefeated weekend this season, this time in Pittsburgh, on the PWHPA’s Secret Dream Gap Tour.
Poulin had four goals in two games, including a hat trick in Sunday’s win over Team Scotiabank.
Team Harvey’s has emerged as the team to beat on the four-team showcase tour, with key contributions this weekend from Poulin, Jamie Lee Rattray, Jessie Eldridge, and Emily Clark.
To open the weekend, Team Harvey’s edged Team Adidas 4-3. Rattray opened the scoring by taking a long stretch pass from Savannah Harmon as she came out of the penalty box, walking in to score a breakaway goal going five-hole on Adidas netminder Shea Tiley. Emily Clark and Jessie Eldridge each had a goal and an assist for Team Harvey’s, while Kendall Coyne Schofield scored one of the nicest goals of the weekend for Adidas showcasing her blazing speed on a second-period breakaway tally.
Entering the third period down 3-1, Team Adidas’ Laura Stacey scored a pair to tie things up before Marie-Philip Poulin scored the game-winner for Harvey’s.
Team Scotiabank won the second match-up of Day 1, beating Team Sonnet 5-4. Rebecca Johnston starred for Scotiabank scoring two goals and adding two assists in the win.
Johnston’s first goal of the game was a goal-of-the-year candidate as she spun off the forecheck in her own zone, gained speed through the neutral zone, and toe dragged splitting the Sonnet defenders before roofing a shot over Nicole Hensley’s blocker.
Also scoring for Scotiabank were Blayre Turnbull, Jaime Bourbonnais, and Alex Carpenter. Team Sonnet’s goal scorers were Erin Ambrose, Hannah Brandt and Alexa Vasko, who scored a pair in the loss.
On Day 2 in Pittsburgh, Team Harvey’s handed Scotiabank a 5-2 loss. Shorthanded in the opening period, Marie-Philip Poulin picked off a breakout pass and beat Emerance Maschmeyer from the right circle to give Harvey’s the 1-0 lead. On the power play in the final minutes of the first period, Poulin scored her second of the game banging home a puck in tight with Eldridge and Laura Fortino picking up assists. Early in the second, Megan Keller walked in from the blueline and beat Ann-Renee Desbiens to pull Team Scotiabank back within one. Fortino scored a goal of her own to regain Team Harvey’s two-goal lead, going up 3-1.
In the third period, Tatum Skaggs tapped home a Megan Keller point shot back door to pull Team Scotiabank back within one. Poulin however, broke in alongside Eldridge on a 2-on-1, ripping home an Eldrige pass for her hat trick and putting Harvey’s up 4-2.
With time winding down, Alex Poznikoff scored an empty netter, with Poulin grabbing her fourth point of the game, an assist, capping Harvey’s 5-2 win.
To close out the weekend, Kendall Coyne Scofield put on a show scoring a pair of goals to lead Team Adidas to a 3-1 win over Team Sonnet. Emily Curlett had the other Team Adidas goal, while Abby Roque scored the lone Sonnet goal, finishing off a scoring chance from Brianne Jenner and Hannah Brandt.
Three Stars
- Marie-Philip Poulin – Team Harvey’s: Her brilliance has been on display during each Dream Gap stop this season, but Poulin was unstoppable in Pittsburgh. She scored the game-winner in Game 1, and notched a hat trick in Game 2, leading Team Harvey’s to an undefeated weekend.
- Kendall Coyne Schofield – Team Adidas: When Coyne Schofield is on the ice, opponents look like they’re in slow motion. That’s what happened during the first game of the weekend for Coyne Schofield when she blew by the defenders at her own blueline, created a gap with her quickness, and scored on the breakaway. Scoring twice in Adidas’ second game, a win over Team Sonnet, Coyne Schofield was again a force.
- Megan Keller – Team Scotiabank: In international play, Keller’s dominance is becoming more apparent – this weekend in Pittsburgh, Keller continued to show why she’s one of the best defenders on the planet. On top of her defensive responsibilities, Keller’s activation from the blueline helped Scotiabank generate chances.
