Success over the long haul requires Sirens to play better against teams that offer match-up challenges.
Good thing it’s a long season. There are 22 more games left after the Sirens completed their eighth game of the season with a 3-2 loss to the Ottawa Charge on Tuesday night at Prudential Center.
The Sirens blew a 1-0 lead in the first period and, from there, played catch-up most of the night against Ottawa. The Sirens made it interesting when Maja Nylén Persson’s third-period slapshot goal cut Ottawa’s deficit to 3-2, but in the end, goaltender Emerance Maschmeyer made the saves down the stretch. She finished the game with 21 saves to record her fourth win of the season.
The Charge controlled the tempo for most of the game by dominating the puck. They didn’t give the Sirens much room to work with, and the Sirens mustered only five shots in the first and five in the third, completing only 25 shots total.
So after eight games, the Sirens are 3-1-1-3 (3-3 in layman’s terms), and to say they’re a work in progress is an understatement. You can say that about the other five PWHL teams, too. Players are learning to play with each other, and teams are searching for identities, neither of which is surprising in the season’s first month of play.
The good news is that the Sirens are second in the PWHL in goals scored, at 25, and average 3.125 goals per game. Coming off a five-goal performance in their 5-0 victory over the Minnesota Frost on Saturday at St. Paul, it was surprising that they had a hard time most of the night against Ottawa. Then again, in two games against the Charge, they have only scored three goals.
While the Sirens will have ups and downs in a long, grinding season, I believe this is a playoff team after watching them in two games and reading about the rest. The offense is the reason. First-year Sirens coach Greg Hardy has implemented an offense-first style that he used as Colgate coach, which has paid dividends. It helps that the team has playmakers, such as rookies Sarah Fillier and Alex Carpenter, to build around.
However, the Sirens must perform better against teams they don’t match up well against, and the Charge is one of them. Whether the Sirens can will be known soon because, in a six-team league, teams play each other frequently.
In fourth place currently, and only five points out of first, we’ll know more about the team by February 2. By then, the Siren will have played all the teams ahead of them–second-place Minnesota at home on January 12, a rematch against third-place Ottawa at TD Place on January 27, and a home contest against front-running Montreal on February 2.
