LOWELL — PWHL Boston earned a hard-fought 4-3 win over PWHL Minnesota in Game 1 of the Walter Cup Finals on Sunday night at Tsongas Center. They lead the best-of-five series 1-0.
Boston’s penalty kill went 3-for-3, and Aerin Frankel made 30 saves in the win.
PWHL Boston had to kill a Megan Keller interference penalty just 10 seconds into the game. They were successful in doing so, but Michaela Cava gave PWHL Minnesota the lead with a wraparound goal that beat Frankel to give the visitors a 1-0 lead.
The lead only lasted about three minutes thanks to Susanna Tapani — who scored the overtime winner against PWHL Montreal to advance to the Walter Cup Finals — beating Maddie Rooney on Boston’s second shot of the game.
The two teams went into the first intermission tied at 1-1. PWHL Minnesota held a slight 10-8 edge in shots over Boston, while the home team brought the physicality early with 14 hits to Minnesota’s four.
Fanatics Sportsbook
10X$100 BONUS BET
BET MATCH BONUS
Must be 21+. GAMBLING PROBLEM? Call 1-800-GAMBLER (CO, KY ,MD, OH, PA, TN, VA, VT, WV); (888) 789-7777 or ccpg.org (CT); 1-800-BETS-OFF (IA); (800) 327-5050 or gamblinghelpline.org (MA), mdgamblinghelp.org (MD), 1800gambler.net (WV)
The second period featured five goals and ended with PWHL Boston taking a 4-3 lead into the final 20 minutes.
PWHL Minnesota took back the lead and gave them a 2-1 advantage 9:55 into the second period when Taylor Heise beat Aerin Frankel with a top-corner goal. Boston had some chances, but couldn’t capitalize until Taylor Wenczkowski tied it for Boston when she got a hold of a loose puck and beat Rooney.
Wenczkowski didn’t have a goal in 16 regular-season games for Boston, but she’s come up big for Boston in the playoffs. Sunday’s equalizer was her second of the postseason.
PWHL Boston took its first lead of the night nearly three minutes later when Hannah Brandt made it 3-2 on a goal that beat Rooney far side. But Minnesota tied it with Heise’s second goal of the game, this time a one-timer to beat Frankel.
Fifteen seconds later, though, Jess Healey put Boston up 4-3 on a shot from the point that fooled Rooney.
PWHL Boston went on the penalty kill 2:28 into the third period for a delay of game penalty, but Minnesota wasn’t able to take advantage of the opportunity and the game remained 4-3 in favor of Boston.
Things started to get chippy between the two teams after Frankel made a huge stop before the sides tussled in front of Boston’s net.
Minnesota got its second power play of the period with 8:38 to go when Kaleigh Fratkin was sent to the box for tripping. But once again they were unable to capitalize and the one-goal lead remained intact for Boston.
Despite a push from Minnesota at the end of the period and pulling their goalie, Boston hung on for the 4-3 win to take a 1-0 series lead.
Game 2 between Boston and Minnesota is set for Tuesday at 7 p.m. EST at Tsongas Center.
- All betting sites in MA will have promo codes for signing up. Don’t forget to check out BetMGM Massachusetts and DraftKings Massachusetts.
