Vancouver star forward Sarah Nurse scored 29 seconds after Toronto scored the first goal of the game; despite the equalizer, the Goldeneyes ultimately lost to the Toronto Sceptres 2-1 in overtime.
This was Nurse’s first game back since she was injured during Vancouver’s home opener on Nov. 21, and it was extra special as she faced off against her former team.
The Sceptres hosted Vancouver for its third annual Battle of Bay Street at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto in front of 17,856 people.
Sceptres defender Savannah Harmon scored her first goal of the season and the first goal of the game on a power play just over 12 minutes into the second period, and Daryl Watts scored the overtime winning goal.
Toronto goaltender Raygan Kirk saved 23 out of 24 shots, while Vancouver’s Emerance Maschmeyer saved 42 out of 44 shots on net. Twenty of those shots on Maschmeyer were in the first period alone, and she saved them all.
Sceptres goalie Raygan Kirk said, “I think it’s always amazing playing in this rink, getting to do it last year and the energy here again — any large arena we’ve been in is so unreal, and I think we’ve just been really feeding off that energy. It’s so nice to get the W today. It’s been a tough few games for us and getting it in overtime too, where we haven’t maybe yet this year, it was electric. I have to give a shoutout to Sav [Harmon] for that first goal, that snipe!”
Saturday’s win snapped Toronto’s four-game losing streak and extended Vancouver’s to three games.
Goldeneyes forward Sarah Nurse said on what she has seen from the Goldeneyes this season, “I’ve had a bird’s eye view and so I’ve been able to not necessarily have the pulse on the ice, but being able to look and speak to my teammates about what I’ve been seeing I think has been really helpful.”
“Like Brian [Idalski] is saying, obviously the process has been a little bit slower, but we’re right there. We didn’t have a great first period, Masch [Emerance Maschmeyer] bailed us out making [20] saves in that period, but as the game went on and we started figuring things out, how to combat what they were doing, I thought that we did a great job of doing that. Once we tighten our game up and really make those hard plays, the game becomes easier for us. We see glimpses of that, and so we have to do that all the time.”
The Goldeneyes will return home for their next game at the Pacific Coliseum on Thursday (Jan. 22) as they take on the Toronto Sceptres again.
Vancouver currently sits in 7th place with 13 points, just ahead of the Seattle Torrent.
The PWHL entered its third season on Nov. 21 with its original six teams: Toronto Sceptres, Montreal Victoire, Ottawa Charge, Minnesota Frost, Boston Fleet, and New York Sirens, along with the two new teams, Vancouver Goldeneyes and Seattle Torrent.
READ MORE: Vancouver’s Sarah Nurse returns from injury ahead of game against former team
About the Author: Anna Burns
I cover breaking news, health care, court, Vancouver Rise FC, Vancouver Goldeneyes and social issues-related topics for the Surrey Now-Leader. anna.burns@surreynowleader.com Follow Anna on Twitter.