Pride prevail against Whale
Will face off against Minnesota on Friday in Isobel Cup Final
After their upset win in Buffalo on Friday night, no one was going to overlook the Whale; not even a near-undefeated team.
With just two wins in the regular season, Connecticut wasn’t on too many radars to make it deep into the postseason.
They went into Boston on Sunday and held their own against the 23-1-0 Pride, but ultimately, Boston’s depth was too much. The Pride pulled away in the third period to take a 5-1 win and earn a berth in their third Isobel Cup Final.
“This is what we train for all year, starting last September,” said Pride head coach Paul Mara. “Tip your hats to Connecticut, they’ve come a long way from September till now. They battled until the last period and did a great job. We’re looking froward to Friday night.”
The Pride last played in the Final in 2017 when they were upset by the Beauts in
Lowell. Like that season, the Pride head into championship weekend with just a single loss.
“It’s been a while it feels like,” said Jillian Dempsey, who has been with the Pride all five of their seasons. “Our ultimate goal is to have that opportunity. Now that we’re one step closer, we can focus on that and get the job done.”
They’ll meet the Minnesota Whitecaps, the only team to hand them a loss in the regular season, for the championship. At 17-5-0, the Whitecaps have been the next most challenging team in the league all season.
“That was the goal from the start, and we worked really hard for this,” said Pride goalie Lovisa Selander. “You’re always nervous in a one-and-done situation. But we were focused and determined to get to the final on Friday.”
Against her former team on Sunday in the semifinal, Emily Fluke did the early damage.
Jenna Rheaut flung a shot toward the Whale net and the puck hit off the end boards over to Fluke along the goal line, who fired in her first goal of the postseason for 1-0 Pride lead with 10:07 left in the first period.
Connecticut hung around though, even after the Pride had four power plays into midway through the second they couldn’t convert on and Whale goalie Brooke Wolejko held her own.
That allowed the Whale the time they needed to knot things up.
Grace Klienbach shoveled a shot past Selander from the doorstep with 8:32 left to knot the game up 1-1
In typical Dempsey fashion, the league’s co-MVP put Boston back ahead just over a minute later.
Pride defender Mallory Souliotis’ shot hit off Wolejko and the rebound bounced to Dempsey around the faceoff dot, and she backhanded in the goahead goal for a 2-1 lead.
A late second period Shannon Doyle elbowing call put the Pride on the power play for four minutes, only after a minute of 5-on-3 to open the final frame, which could have buried the
Whale, but their kill stepped up again to keep it a onegoal game.
Christina Putigna, though, widened that gap a few minutes later.
With 10:18 left in the game, the rookie winger carried the puck up and fired in a shot up high to give the Pride a two-goal cushion for the first time all game.
With 1:27 left, Kaleigh Fratkin hit the empty net to seal it. Jordan Juron added another with 1:05 left.
“They battled hard, and we knew that they would, too,” said Dempsey. “They gave us a great game there and made it tough so it was good preparation for the final. We’re not thinking of the past and we’re thinking about what’s going to happen on Friday night.”
The Pride will host the defending champion Whitecaps on Friday night for the Isobel Cup.
“Everyone’s been wanting Minnesota in Boston,” said Mara. “It should be a great game.”