When the Boston Fleet stormed back to score three goals in less than two minutes, the Ottawa Charge didn’t wilt under pressure.
Shortly after those goals, Ottawa head coach Carla MacLeod used a TV timeout to remind her team that they were still in it. There was plenty of time left to mount a comeback.
Later that period, Charge defender Brooke Hobson scored to tie the game and force overtime. And less than two minutes into double overtime, Charge forward Michela Cava potted the game-winning goal that sent the Charge back to the championship series for the second consecutive year.
Resilience has been part of the Charge’s DNA all season long, and it’s by design. Ottawa captain, Brianne Jenner, credited her team’s mental performance coach, Kim Thompson, for helping the players develop the ability to weather any storm they find themselves in.
“The fact that we were able to put that in the rear view and just keep going, that’s something that we try to cultivate in our locker room,” Jenner said. “That’s stuff that we work on.”
It’s also likely something they take from MacLeod, who has coached this season while battling breast cancer. When the momentum shifted away from them, MacLeod brought them back to it.
“They’re resilient just like their coach who is going through some things right now with her health,” Boston Fleet head coach Kris Sparre said after his team’s 4-3 loss. “We wish her and obviously the Ottawa Charge all the best.”
The Charge will face the winner of the other semifinal series between the Montreal Victoire and Minnesota Frost. Game 5 was scheduled for Monday, but was postponed due to illness. A rescheduled date hasn’t been announced yet.
Ottawa Charge head back to Walter Cup finals after defeating Boston Fleet in semifinal series
A year after losing to the Frost in last year’s Walter Cup final, this Ottawa team is “highly motivated” to write a different ending, MacLeod said.
Several key players from last year’s playoff push are back to take another shot at a title, including Jenner, alternate captains Jocelyne Larocque and Emily Clark, and starting goaltender Gwyneth Philips, who was named playoff MVP in last year’s loss.
Philips has matured in her second season in the league when it comes to her mindset, Jenner said.
“I think you can see a huge step mentally,” the captain said about her goaltender. “When she has a rare mistake, she bounces back so quick. That’s amazing to see from a young, elite player like that.”
Even after allowing three goals in less than two minutes on Sunday, Philips was perfect through the rest of the third period and overtime. She finished the night with 43 saves.
She boasts the best goals’ against average (1.62) of all four goalies who’ve played in this year’s playoffs, despite facing significantly more shots than anyone else. In what was billed as a goaltending battle between Philips and Boston’s Aerin Frankel, it was Philips who emerged as the victor.
Cava is in her first playoff series with the Charge, after winning back-to-back championships with the Minnesota Frost. She’s developed a reputation as someone who knows how to win, having now earned championships in four different hockey leagues.
Sunday’s goal was her first with the Charge since coming over in a January trade from the Vancouver Goldeneyes, but it was a big one. Even if she’s only added one goal, her experience in big games has impacted her teammates.
“She’s very cool in all situations and has great messages for the team, and I think she’s given so much to us,” Jenner said.
Another new face is Fanuza Kadirova, the Russian forward who might be the biggest surprise of the PWHL season. Plenty of people weren’t sure what to expect from Kadirova, who hadn’t played against North Americans for several years, with Russia banned from competing in both the world championship and Olympic hockey.
️Cava’s 2OT winner sinks Fleet in Game 4, Charge advance to 2nd straight Walter Cup Finals
Her skill and work ethic, combined with her chemistry alongside Cava and Kateřina Mrázová, have made her a star in Ottawa. She leads the league in playoff points (five) over four games, including two assists in Game 4.
“She was probably flying under the radar a little bit at the draft time last year and for her to be able to come in and settle in, when you don’t have language and you’ve got fast-talking coaches, she just has really embraced the whole experience and this whole opportunity,” MacLeod said. “She was so excited to be in this league.”
Boston became the seventh consecutive team to lose to a lower-seeded team in the Walter Cup playoffs, a unique quirk in a league with a lot of parity.
The expectations were high in Boston after a strong first season under new head coach, Sparre. The Fleet began rolling at the beginning of the season and never really stopped, until meeting Ottawa in the playoffs.
The Fleet outshot the Charge by a huge margin (142-94), but struggled to score. Philips was a huge part of why the Charge won, but Ottawa also won more battles and blocked more pucks, the type of details that become more important in hockey as the weather gets warmer.
Why did the PWHL decide to expand into Detroit?
Sparre credited the Charge’s experience in the playoffs.
“We’re a team that has 12 players in our lineup that have never played a game of playoff hockey,” he said. “You have to go through it to learn what it takes. In order to be a championship level team, you have to be able to do those things and you have to be willing to put your body on the line. I’m not saying that we didn’t because we did. But this grind, game after game, is something that our players have to go through.”
That playoff experience is valuable, but it doesn’t mean the Fleet will return next year more battle tested. With expansion and expiring contracts poised to shake up the league, Sparre won’t get to have the same team next season.
From the beginning of Sparre’s first season behind the bench, he credited the team’s leadership group for buying into how he wanted to play.
That the group is likely to be broken up was painful for Sparre and alternate captain, Jamie Lee Rattray, when they spoke just after Sunday’s loss.
“It’s amazing for the league but it’s tough as a player,” Rattray said. “I’ve been fortunate enough to be here for three years and really help build this culture here. I’ve had a ton of fun doing it and I just want to keep the same team almost every year. When you build something special, especially this year, it’s hard.”
