Charge freeze up against the Frost in Overtime loss
By Tyler Beauchesne
Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press via AP
With a 1-0 series lead, the Ottawa Charge returned to TD to face the Minnesota Frost to hopefully make it a 2-0 series lead. The stadium was sold out to thousands of loud Charge fans hoping their team could win this bout and push themselves to a cup win.
The first period started with a fiery effort by the Charge on the offensive end, with good shot opportunities and rush chances created. They were fighting just as hard in the defensive zone as players like Rebecca Leslie, making huge plays in front of the net to keep the Frost scoreless. Despite outworking the Frost, the score remained scoreless heading into the second period.
The second period started with another tight affair between both teams. Neither team could generate any offence throughout the period, but the Charge were taking good shots on Maddie Rooney but were getting goalie. A bad call led to a Frost powerplay in which we saw the return of this legend from the last game:
The Charge were able to kill off the penalty well with a short-handed attempt from Leslie, but afterwards they got a chance on the powerplay with a tripping call on the Frost. The powerplay was strong in good shot chances and plays on net, but still no goals came from it. The Charge were outshooting the Frost 20-5, but the score was still even.
The third period started with the Frost changing goalies, putting Nicole Hensley in for Rooney. This was done for load management purposes as she faced a huge workload of shots. The game remained scoreless until Jocelyne Larocque was able to get a beautiful shot in the net past Hensley with 2:35 left on the clock. It was a glorious goal that was much needed to prevent another overtime period from happening and give the Charge the lead!
The Frost emptied the net and got a power play to end the game with 36 seconds left. It was a tough 6-on-4 situation for the Charge to take on. However, it was too much as a “Britta Curl” got one past Gwyneth Philips to tie the game and take it to OT. That goal should not have happened in the first place, as she should have been suspended for her knee-on-knee hit from the last game.
Overtime started with both teams being aggressive with each other but both goalies were standing on their heads against the pressure. Both teams were trying to exit their zones and make plays but kept getting shut down by the other team. The Charge were still outworking the Frost with seven shots to four shots but still no score.
That was until the Frost scored the game winner to tie the series up and win the game.
An absolutely brutal ending to this tight game that will certainly be controversial due to the player who scored the tying goal. The series is not over yet as the Charge will travel to Minnesota to hopefully win and regain their momentum in the series.
Go Charge!
