What a time to score her first career Professional Women’s Hockey League goal.
Anne Cherkowski of Coldstream scored the game-winning goal at 14:47 of the second period, snapping a 1-1 tie when she re-directed teammate Paetyn Levis’ shot past Montreal goalie Ann-Renée Desbiens, lifting the New York Sirens to a 2-1 win over the Victoire.
The game Sunday, Jan. 18, was played as part of the league’s Takeover Tour (playing games in cities without a team), with the PWHL making its debut in Washington, D.C.
The contest set a U.S. women’s hockey attendance record with a crowd of 17,228 at Capital One Arena.
Cherkowski, a league rookie, was taken with the ninth pick overall, first choice of the second round, by the Sirens in the 2025 Entry Draft. She has the goal and four assists in the team’s 13 games this season. She nabbed a point in the team’s last game against Montreal on Jan. 2 at the Prudential Center, the Sirens’ home arena in New Jersey.
Teammate Kristýna Kaltounková – taken first overall by the Sirens – added to her strong rookie campaign with her second powerplay goal of the season 1:24 after the national anthem. She has eight goals on the year.
Montreal’s Maggie Flaherty got the Victoire on the board with a powerplay goal of their own in the final minute of the opening frame.
There was no scoring in the third period.
Desbiens finished with 25 saves for Montreal while Kayle Osborne made 31 stops for New York.
The victory moves the Sirens (7 wins, 5 losses, 1 overtime loss, 22 points) into second place in the standings with points in six straight games. New York is six points back of league-leading Boston Fleet (8 wins, 2 losses, 1 overtime win, 2 overtime losses – teams get 3 points for a win, two points for overtime wins, and one point for overtime losses) for 28 points.
Montreal – the top Canadian team of four – drops down to fourth with their first loss in four games (5-5-2-0, 19 points). The teams will meet again following the Olympic break on Feb. 26 in New Jersey.
New York heads back home to host the Ottawa Charge on Tuesday, Jan. 20.
The crowd of 17,228 surpassed the previous record of 16,014 fans set on Nov. 28, 2025, when the expansion Seattle Torrent hosted the defending champion Minnesota Frost for their inaugural home opener at Climate Pledge Arena. The first-ever PWHL contest played in Washington, D.C. ranks 10th all-time in league attendance.
“It was awesome,” said Cherkowski’s teammate, New York alternate captain Sarah Fillier, on the atmosphere in the U.S. capital to the PWHL social media team. “In the third, when they were singing along during play, it’s an incredible feeling as a player to know fans are excited to show up, support women’s hockey, and watch the product we put on the ice.
“Speaking specifically about this crowd, I don’t think I’ve ever seen that many people at warm-ups with signs along the glass for us. You can tell there’s a lot of passion in this city for sports, and especially for women’s sports. It was a great crowd, and it would be awesome to come back and play here.”
All nine games of the 2025-26 PWHL Takeover Tour have been decided by one goal.
New York set a new team record with points in six straight games (5-0-1-0), beating their previous five-game point streak between Jan. 28 and Feb. 23, 2024, with five straight games beyond regulation (0-3-2-0). Ottawa is the only other team with a six-game point streak this season, going 2-4-0-0 from Dec. 21 to Jan. 11.
The Sirens have won both of their Takeover Tour games this season, previously earning a 4-3 win over Seattle in Dallas on Dec. 28.
The Victoire suffered their first loss since they last played New York on Jan. 2 in their seventh straight game decided by a single goal, a new team record for the longest streak of regular-season games decided by one goal or a shootout.
The Sirens have scored at least two goals in seven consecutive games this season, breaking their previous team record six-game streak between Jan. 1 and Jan. 20, 2024.
New York is undefeated in games where the team is outshot by their opponent (4-0-0-0) this season. They have just three wins in eight games when outshooting their opponent.