The championship scene commenced when PWHL Minnesota forward Sophie Jaques put the puck into the back of the net with 2:34 left in double overtime of Game 4 against PWHL Boston on Sunday night.
Helmets, sticks and all sorts of hockey equipment from Minnesota players got tossed into the air and littered the ice at Xcel Energy Center. They piled onto Jaques knowing that they would soon hoist the inaugural Walter Cup.
But that final moment of lifting up the trophy never came for Minnesota and Boston was granted new life.
Jaques’ goal was overturned on video review due to goalie interference by Taylor Heise and Boston forward Alina Muller scored just 1:10 later to lift her team to an unbelievable 1-0 victory and force a winner-take-all Game 5.
It was a wild and dramatic swing. But even when all hope looked lost for Boston, it believed it still had a chance.
“I didn’t think it was over,” Boston head coach Courtney Kessel told reporters, per league-provided video. “I thought it was goalie interference. But you never know, right? So, you challenge and kind of wait.”
It was difficult to digest everything that happened on the controversial play for Boston goalie Aerin Frankel, who continued her other-worldly postseason performances by stopping all 33 shots she faced.
“Obviously being in the net, I didn’t really know what happened other than the fact that I was pushed, but I didn’t know who pushed me into the net,” Frankel told reporters, per league-provided video. “It kind of all just happened really fast. But then after seeing the replay, I was confident that they would maybe overturn it. Obviously, it’s tough being in their rink and second overtime and stuff, but I’m glad that they made the right call.”
Taking not only the game-winning goal, but the series-clinching goal off the scoreboard zapped Minnesota of all the momentum. Boston felt it, too.
“It’s obviously deflating when you are playing a game this long and you think you score a goal and then you’re celebrating on the ice and it gets called back,” Frankel said. “I think right away we just hit the reset and we’ve been in overtime so much already this year and I think we stuck to the systems that have been working for us this year.”
It didn’t take long for Boston to take advantage of its new-found life, either, with Minnesota trying to pick up the pieces after it thought it had won a title. Minnesota turned the puck over in its defensive zone and Muller took a pass from Theresa Schafzahl before beating goalie Nicole Hensley’s top self to officially end the game with 1:24 left in double overtime.
“I think the advantage was on our side just from a mental side,” Muller told reporters, per league-provided video. “… It’s pretty tough if you’re on the other side.”
