In front of a sellout crowd of 14,958 fans at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver, the Seattle Torrent played their first game in franchise history and they spent no time by handing their fans a gutpunch loss.
Welcome to Seattle sports!
Okay, okay, that’s not entirely fair. There are bigger things than an overtime loss, like the fact that the team exists at all. This was a celebration and a welcoming of professional women’s hockey to Seattle, one of the strongest cities for women’s sports.
It was the first-ever game for the expansion Seattle Torrent playing against the expansion Vancouver Goldeneyes, also playing their first-ever game. But unlike other expansion teams in other sports, Seattle and Vancouver are the consensus two best teams in the league. This was a game between the two title favorites.
Both rosters are stacked with superstar power and depth. We had stacks on stacks and this game was money.
The Torrent got things going and scored the first goal in franchise history when Julia Gosling gets to the net front and pokes the puck home. One might expect her to get her goals with sweet, precision laser shots*, but this was a greasy goal and the result of hard work.
*this is what we like to call in the writing business as foreshadowing
A tried and tried-and-true hockey adage is “if you’re going to turn the puck over, don’t turn it over to a superstar who is one of the greatest players of her generation,” but the Torrent forgot that one momentarily and Sarah Nurse, the gold medalist and EA cover athlete, tied it.
Gosling, however, was not done scoring. This time she engaged the radar lock under the cross bar and fired and kaboom! Gosling scored her second goal of the game and the Torrent led 2-1.
There was no scoring in the 2nd, but there was a lot of action and back-and-forthness. We did have an injury to Seattle’s Aneta Tejralová. There was some chippiness during the period after this, though it is unclear how much was a result of the injury and how much was just that hockey is a game where players get chippy.
Abby Boreen started the third period by making a great play to Gabby Rosenthal. Well, I’m sure that’s the last time we’ll hear Abby Boreen’s name this game!
Then with 6:13 to play, we had a weird goal. Hannah Bilka shot the puck into the net but it went in and out so quickly that it was unclear what had happened. After a long stoppage, they ruled it was a good goal and the Torrent took a late 3-2 lead.
Surely that lead would hoL…OH COME ON
And then in overtime, it was Abby Boreen who broke the hearts of the Seattle fans and electrified the Vancouverites when the Goldeneyes seize control of the puck in overtime and Boreen receives the cross slot pass for the overtime winner.
The Torrent get a full week off and their next game is on Black Friday, November 28th against the Minnesota Frost and is their home opener at Climate Pledge Arena. We’ll see you there!