The Vancouver Goldeneyes fell to the Ottawa Charge 3-2 in overtime despite outshooting them 36 to 17.
Vancouver hosted Ottawa Saturday (March 14) at the Pacific Coliseum in front of a crowd of 11,201.
Vancouver Head Coach Brian Idalski said on outshooting Ottawa, “We’ve seen a lot of growth with our o-zone movement and getting off of the wall, not being perimeter and making a point to be hard to play against offensively.”
“Driving hard to get to the paint, making sure that we’re physical with net front presence. We’re seeing a lot of that. We talked early in the year about identity. It takes time for that, but you’re starting to see what we’re capable of and who we are in regards to that identity,” he said.
Goldeneyes’s star forward Sarah Nurse scored the first goal for Vancouver midway through the third period.
Nurse said of today’s game, “We’ve had a lot of time here at home these last few weeks and worked on a lot of things. I was really impressed with our compete level and our fight. We talked about it in the locker room, there were a lot of dominant stretches for us in that game. It was unfortunate that the game didn’t go the way that we wanted it to, but at the end of the day, we have to find ways to win. Regardless of how puck dominant we are, that doesn’t show up in the standings, so we need to find ways to get pucks in the back of the net.”
Sophie Jaques also scored for the Goldeneyes in the third period, and goalie Kristen Campbell saved 14 of 17 shots on net. Jacques is the fourth defender in the PWHL to to record 40 career points (14G, 26A).
Fanuza Kadirova opened up the scoring for Ottawa in the second period. Sarah Wozniewicz and Rebecca Leslie also scored for the Charge during the game and goalie Gwyneth Philips saved 34 out of 36 shots on net.
Goalie Emerance Maschmeyer was not in the lineup again for the game, as she has been listed day-to-day with an upper-body injury. Although Vancouver is the only team in the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) that has “two qualified goalies (min. 240 minutes).
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.
Vancouver’s next game is on Wednesday (March 18) at home, taking on New York at 7 p.m. PT.
The Goldeneyes currently sit in 7th place with 21 points.
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.