The Connecticut Whale played their last two games of the regular season at home at Terry Conners Rink. The first game was against the Buffalo Beauts and the second game was against the Minnesota Whitecaps.
1st Game
In the first game on Saturday, the Whale were defeated by the Buffalo Beauts. The Beauts jumped out to an early 3-0 lead by the end of the first period. Goals for the Beauts came from Annika Zalewski, Taylor Accursi, and Juliana Iafallo. Emily Pfalzer assisted on two of the goals in the first period.
Up 3️⃣ after one! #GoBeauts👑 pic.twitter.com/QLuZaPl4NC
— Buffalo Beauts (@BuffaloBeauts) March 2, 2019
In the second period, there would be more Beauts dominance against the Whale, and late in the second period, the Beauts would get another breakthrough, the goal coming from Corinne Buie.
In the third period, the Beauts would add another goal, it came from former Whale forward Kelly Babstock. It would be her fourth goal on the year and her first coming against her old squad. However, the Whale would spring to life a minute after the goal. Beauts forward Corinne Buie would take a slashing minor and on the ensuing power play, Whale defender Shannon Doyle scored. For Shannon Doyle, it was her fifth point in six games (one goal and four assists). Five minutes later, the Whale would add another goal from Rachael Ade.
Unfortunately, that would be as close as the Whale would come to a comeback. The Beauts held on to take the game by a score of 5-2. Shenae Lundberg was the goalie of record for the Whale and she made 25 saves on 30 shots.
☑️
Beauts WWWWWWWin! pic.twitter.com/yQOh5MGV2s
— Buffalo Beauts (@BuffaloBeauts) March 3, 2019
3 Stars
Shannon Doyle: Scoring on the powerplay, she now has three goals and five assists on the year, and now has eight points in her last eleven games.
Rachael Ade: She now has two goals in her last three games as of Saturday. She pushes her totals to two goals and one assist for three points on the year.
Katerina Mrázová: She added two primary assists assists adding to her points lead.
2nd Game
On Sunday, the Whale played their final home game of the regular season, against the Minnesota Whitecaps.
In the first period, there were good back and forth action between the two teams. Unfortunately, a little over halfway through the first period, Whale forward Vanessa Gagnon went down with an apparent leg injury. Stunned by the situation, the Whitecaps would get a goal from Allie Thunstrom.
In the second period, the Whitecaps would jump out to a 2-0 leas when Lauren Barnes beat Erin O’Neil. The Whale would get a goal back which was provided by their captain Emily Fluke. Mrázová came around the net and sent the puck across the crease and Fluke was there to put the puck home.
https://twitter.com/WSportHilites/status/1102318153416278016
Before the end of the second period, the Whitecaps would add to their lead with Lauren Barnes notching her second goal of the period and her second of the game.
In the third period, there was a lot of great back and forth action, with great goaltending being supplied by both goalies Amanda Leveille and Erin O’Neil. However the Whale wouldn’t be able to make a comeback as Kendall Coyne Schofield would add an empty net goal. The Whitecaps would win the game by the final score of 4-1.
And that ends #CTWvsMIN, as well as our regular season. Thank you for being the best fans in the world! #WhaleOfAFanbase
Final score: 4-1 @WhitecapsHockey pic.twitter.com/itVLhNoAir— Connecticut Whale (@CTWhaleHockey) March 3, 2019
3 Stars
Erin O’Neil: The goalie of record for the Whale, she kept them in the game. She made 30 saves on 33 shots.
Katerina Mrázová: Getting her third point over the weekend on an assist from the Emily Fluke goal, it pushes her point totals on the year to six goals and six assists for twelve points on the year.
Emily Fluke: She notched her third goal of the year, which combined with her eight assists, gives her a point total of eleven. It is good for second on the team in points, finishing up an impressive sophomore campaign for her.
Playoffs:
The Whale will square off against the Metropolitan Riveters in the playoffs again; as it will be a rematch of last years semi-final matchup. The game will be at the RWJ Barnabas Health Hockey House this Thursday March 7th at 7p EST.
Regular season may be over, but the Isobel Cup Playoffs are just getting started! Join us Thursday, March 7 at 7PM when we face off against the @Riveters at the @NJDHockeyHouse! Tickets go on sale tomorrow at noon! 🐳🙌🏻 pic.twitter.com/BqHI4ahGVH
— Connecticut Whale (@CTWhaleHockey) March 3, 2019
Tweet from Women’s Sports Highlights was used with their permission and you can follow them here: @WSportHilites
Leave a Reply