The Minnesota Frost have secured back-to-back Walter Cup championships after defeating the Ottawa Charge 2-1 in overtime of Game 4, capping off a tightly contested PWHL Finals series. Liz Schepers once again delivered the decisive goal 12 minutes into OT, replicating her heroics from last season.
All four games in the best-of-five series were decided by identical 2-1 scores in overtime. The Frost lost the opener in Ottawa but rebounded with three consecutive wins, including a triple-OT thriller in Game 3. The Game 4 win sealed the title before 11,024 fans in Minnesota.
Schepers, who played at Ohio State and hails from Mound, Minnesota, credited her teammates Katy Knoll and Klara Hymlarova for setting up the goal. “They made a great play to the front of the net… then I was on my back and the celebration was on,” she said.
Kelly Pannek scored the Frost’s regulation goal, while goalie Maddie Rooney turned aside 33 shots, finishing the postseason undefeated at 5-0. Ottawa forced overtime with a third-period goal from Tereza Vanisova.
Ottawa goaltender Gwyneth Philips earned the Ilana Kloss Playoff MVP award after posting a .952 save percentage and 1.23 goals-against average. Despite the loss, Philips was lauded for her heroics, including 148 overtime saves.
With the Frost again winning as the fourth-seeded playoff team, both finalists now face a turbulent offseason. Each PWHL team will lose four players in the June expansion draft as Vancouver and Seattle join the league.
Swifteradio.com
