LOWELL — In a game that yielded 10 penalties, plenty of stoppages and a fruitful serving of playoff hockey, the Boston Fleet needed just 1:31 of action to flip Game 1 of the Professional Women’s Hockey League Walter Cup semifinal clash on its head.
After the Ottawa Charge struck first at the Tsongas Center and carried a 1-0 lead into the final minutes of the second period, Alina Müller and Jamie Lee Rattray orchestrated a two-goal salvo in the final 2:04 of the second period that was music to the 4,285 on hand in the exciting 2-1 win.
“Physicality is not something that we haven’t seen,” said Fleet head coach Kris Sparre. “We love it. We embrace it. It’s a part of our DNA as a hockey team. I thought we set the tone early with that.”
Boston now holds a 1-0 lead in the best-of-five semifinal series, with Game 2 slated for Saturday at 7 p.m. in Lowell. Boston entered Thursday’s series-opener freshly removed from a 4-0 win over the New York Sirens last weekend that landed them in second place after missing the postseason in 2024-25.
“We were right,” Ottawa head coach Carla MacLeod said on the expectation of a physical series. “Obviously, two highly competitive teams that both embrace speed and physicality, and certainly we saw that here this evening and suspect that will be maintained throughout the entire series. Certainly, we know what we’re in for, and we’re excited about it.”
There have been many reasons for Boston’s turnaround. The play of Jessie Eldridge — Boston’s trade-deadline acquisition — has been one of the major recent developments. Eldridge set up both goals on Thursday on zone entries after finishing the season with 10 points in her final eight games. Her 84 career regular season games were the most played of any player in the first three seasons of the league without appearing in the playoffs.
Ottawa’s Gwyneth Philips impressed with 26 saves, but former Northeastern teammate Aerin Frankel (17 saves) made them when it mattered to backstop Boston to victory. Frankel stood tall in the final 40 seconds as Ottawa deployed an extra attacker to nurse Boston’s lead to the finish line.
“I liked that we stuck with it,” Sparre said. “We had some good opportunities early in the game that didn’t go for us, but that’s why we talk a lot during the season about big moments and staying composed because the higher the stakes, we’re going to need that.”
While the Charge won three of its four games against the Fleet in the regular season, each meeting was decided by the narrowest of margins. All four games required overtime, and three called for a shootout.
That tension leaked into the first period on Thursday.
The penalty boxes at the Tsongas Center were a revolving door, as six infractions were called amid a physical start from both teams.
Perhaps the tipping point was when Boston’s Rylind MacKinnon delivered a thundering open ice hit to Gabbie Hughes, resulting in a five-minute major and a game misconduct for an illegal hit to the head with 4:28 remaining in the period.
Ottawa then capitalized on the lengthy power play on a nifty net-front tip from Jocelyne Larocque. Establishing a prime position in front of the blue paint, Larocque deflected a shot from Rory Guilday to strike first.
“Just more physicality, Larocque said of the difference between Thursday’s game and the regular season. “Everything is kind of dialed up a notch. It’s what we expected, and it’s fun hockey.”
But Ottawa was whistled for consecutive penalties in the final minute of the frame to hand Boston a chance to answer. The Fleet began the second period with just under two minutes of disjointed power play time that consisted of stretches of four-on-three, five-on-three and five-on-four play as the leftover penalties expired, but Boston came up empty on all accounts before squandering another opportunity later in the period.
Still, the Fleet held a significant territorial advantage in the period — outshooting the Charge 15-5 — and were eventually rewarded.
Weaving into the attacking zone on a four-on-two, Müller switched lanes from the outside and collected a pass from Eldridge while splitting a pair of Charge defenders. She nearly glided all the way to the goal line before roofing the puck over the short side to the delight of a crowd on hand looking for a reason to explode.
Boston made the most of the jolt. Eldridge again set up the score, throwing on the brakes entering the offensive zone along the blue line and hitting a trailing Rattray with a pass. With multiple defenders draped on her hip, Rattray backhanded a puck through the five-hole to provide the Fleet with a 2-1 edge entering the third.
Boston held on from there despite being blanked on a fifth power play attempt in the first half of the frame. The Fleet struggled on the player advantage in the regular season (14.0%).
