Sirens won for their second win this week, this time against the league-leading Minnesota Frost.
When Greg Fargo took over as Sirens’ head coach this season, his philosophy was to have the team attack by forechecking, something the defending Walter Cup champion Minnesota Frost did to win last year’s championship. Well, his intent became a reality Wednesday night when the Sirens beat the Frost 3-2 in a seven-round shootout at the Prudential Center.
The win gave Fargo renewed hope that his team may be more than “a work in progress,” which he described after the Sirens’ 1-0 OT win over the Toronto Sceptres last Sunday. The Sirens executed their forecheck perfectly against the Frost, which is a big reason why the home team had fresher legs in overtime and the shootout.
The win showed why the Sirens have the goods to make the playoffs, dethrone the defending Walter Cup champion, and win the championship in the league’s second season. Two reasons are rookie standout Sarah Fillier (11 points with five goals and six assists) and veteran sage Alex Carpenter (10 points with (five goals and five assists).
The eye test tells you Fillier is a legitimate hockey player. With only 67 seconds left, she tied the game at 2-2 against the Frost after Fargo decided to use an extra attacker on the power play, going 6-on-5 with the clock ticking. That goal came after Minnesota scored consecutive goals following Paetyn Levis’s first-period goal, giving the Sirins a 1-0 lead. Meanwhile, Carpenter lost out on at least two goals in the 3rd when Frost goaltender Maddie Rooney made a great save, and two other goal-seeking shots hit the goalpost.
Because the offense is starting to click, it’s too easy (and a mistake) to overlook the Sirins’ goaltending.
Corinne Schroeder has been excellent, leading the league with a 1.86 goals-against average and a .935 save percentage going into Wednesday’s contest. Moreover, she was coming off back-to-back shutouts–the first PWHL goaltender to post back-to-back shutouts in the regular season–and had her shutout streak reach 177:16 when Kendall Coyne Schofield scored in Wednesday’s first period.
Schroeder, twice a winner this season in the league’s Star of the Week honors, was an overtime difference-maker. She stopped Claire Thompson, Heise, Sophie Jaques, and Britta Curl-Salemme and then ended the contest when she stopped Heise a second time, giving the Sirens the victory.
Overall, the Sirens showed grit, wearing out the Frost in what may have been their best defensive performance of the season–the type of play that makes Sirens’ fans think about possibilities. Indeed, this team has the ingredients to make lofty thoughts a reality.
Now four points out of first place, the Sirens have an extended layoff, playing next against the Sceptres in Toronto on Saturday, January 25.
