The Seattle Torrent and Boston Fleet were teams headed in opposite directions when they met Wednesday at Climate Pledge Arena. The Torrent had lost four in a row, while the Fleet had won six straight, and all three previous meetings with Seattle.
Well, that’s history. The present was a thrilling 3-2 come-from-behind Torrent victory.
To the delight of 13,350 fans, Mikyla Grant-Mentis parked a shorthanded semi-breakaway to create a 2-2 tie with 5:13 left. “I just went for it,” she said after the game. Danielle Serdachny put Seattle in front with 3:46 remaining. “We’re a resilient group,” Serdachny said in a postgame interview. “We’ve gotten unlucky at times. This really spoke to our character.”
Seattle put 38 shots on Boston goalie Abbey Levy, including 19 in the middle period. Corinne Schroeder made 26 saves in Seattle’s net. Even without top offensive weapons Hilary Knight and Hannah Bilka, both on long-term injured reserve, Seattle found a way to topple the PWHL’s top team.
PWHL Screengrab
1st Period
Theresa Schafzahl re-directs Daniela Pejšová’s blue line blast, putting Boston on top at 12:30.
A couple of minutes later, Seattle defender Cayla Barnes is whistled for an illegal check. Having scored just once in each of their previous three meetings with the Fleet, the Torrent can ill-afford to go down by two. Strong stops by Torrent goalie Schroeder keeps the deficit at one.
Wild momentum swing in the final minute. First, Schroeder flashes a pad to deny a Jill Saulnier breakaway with 41 seconds left. She also gobbles a Liz Schepers wrister with 15 seconds left. Knowing time’s-a-wasting, Alex Carpenter busts into the offensive zone down right wing. Her backhand has so much mustard that Fleet goalie Abbey Levy gets a piece, but not enough. At 19:54, Carpenter’s 7th ties the game.
2nd Period
The Torrent are catching the Fleet on the 2nd of back-to-back games. Boston defeated the Goldeneyes 2-1 in overtime in Vancouver on Tuesday. Boston is also playing backup netminder Levy, the PWHL’s tallest at 6-foot-1. Her only other game action this season came in a 2-1 Fleet victory at CPA on Dec. 21. Levy stopped 26 of 27 Torrent shots.
On the Torrent’s first power play, Julia Gosling smartly attempts to bank the puck from behind the goal line off the back of goalie Levy. Seattle was credited with eight SOG with the player advantage. Back at full strength, Grant-Mentis’ high-danger chance is gloved by Levy, who gets Natalie Snodgrass’ rebound, too.
Schroeder bends over in her crease to cover Loren Gabel’s shot. Before she can secure it, Susanna Tapani pokes it through the five-hole for a 2-1 Fleet lead at 11:30.
Almost-disaster for Seattle when Schroeder tries to pass from behind her net. Gable intercepts, centering to Tapani with the goalie helplessly out of position. Defender Aneta Tejralová saves the day, sliding in front of Tapani’s bid for a second goal.
A shoulder check by Shay Maloney sends Lexie Adzija awkwardly into the boards. Adzija wasn’t putting any weight on her right leg as she headed down the tunnel for repairs.
3rd Period
Seattle has 1:26 to kill on Brooke Bryant’s late 2nd period goalie interference penalty. Killed it is, with Adjiza happily returned to aid the Kraken effort.
Levy shrugs away Carpenter’s high shot from the slot. At the other end, Laura Kluge drives hard to the net. She loses an edge, slamming the cage off its moorings and getting a piece of goalie Schroeder, too. Both are slow to rise, but both do rise.
Perhaps the loudest sound of the night was reserved for the officials, when Megan Carter was called for a late 3rd period trip. Many in the CPA crowd thought Schafzahl fell of her own accord. But it worked out; Grant-Mentis’ spectacular individual effort tied the game at 14:47.
87 seconds later, Serdachny scored the game winner. Snodgrass occupied goalie Levy, who couldn’t then get across to stop Seradachny’s shot in close.
Tapani, a force all night, hit the inside of the right post with two minutes to go. The Fleet pulled Levy looking for the tie, but this time, it was the league-leaders coming up one goal short.
Up Next
Seattle starts a four game road swing with a Friday the 13th game against the Minnesota Frost.