The Toronto Sceptres are in a tie with the Ottawa Charge for a playoff spot after they defeated the Seattle Torrent 2-0 on Sunday, March 15, in a home game at the Coca-Cola Coliseum.
Toronto goaltender, Raygan Kirk, recorded her first career shutout.
“I woke up this morning and was a little bit mad I hadn’t won at home yet. I’ve been feeling that a bit lately, and I think we owed it to our fans after those past few home games,” Kirk said.
Kirk made 32 saves for Toronto throughout 60 minutes.
The game’s opening goal was made by Toronto captain and forward Blayre Turnbull, making it her sixth of the season and a new record for her. Turnbull was assisted by forward Claire Dalton and defender Renata Fast.
Toronto carried most of the O-zone possession, especially in the third period.
“Little plays where it looks like it’s going in one direction, but we’re going to get someone to support the puck in the opposite direction, is something we’ve been practicing on,” head coach Troy Ryan said.
“In the third, I think they did really well trying to protect the lead but also trying to find a way to get another one,” Ryan said.
Toronto had two power plays and came close to scoring on its power play
“We need to find more ways to get chances, I thought we were quick on the faceoff, and we kept the momentum,” Ryan said.
To close off the game, forward Sara Hjalmarsson scored an insurance goal on an empty net for Toronto with eight seconds left, giving the Sceptres a final score of 2-0 against the Seattle Torrent.
The Torrent sits at the bottom of the PWHL l standings.
This game concluded the regular season meetups between these teams. They have met four times, and Toronto won three of those games.
Dalton took Daryl Watts’ spot in the lineup due to Watts being out with illness.
The Torrent had a few key players out as well, including recent Olympic gold medalists Hillary Knight and Hannah Bilka.
Knight has been out since the Winter Olympics, where she said she was playing with a torn MCL during Team USA’s gold medal victory against Canada in the final.
“It doesn’t matter who is in this lineup. We believe in these players. We have two reserves in there who did a great job tonight,” Torrent head coach Steve O’Rourke said
