The Ottawa Charge is now one win away from its second straight Walter Cup finals appearance after a dramatic 2-1 victory over the Boston Fleet on Friday night.
Sometimes, the bounces just go your way. Such was the case for the Charge, as with 28 seconds left and the game tied at one, a point shot from defender Ronja Savolainen missed wide, bounced off the back boards, off Fleet goaltender Aerin Frankel, and into the back of the net.
In a game that otherwise looked destined for overtime, the Charge came away with the win.
With the victory, Ottawa takes a commanding 2-1 series lead in the best-of-five matchup, putting the team one win away from its second consecutive Walter Cup final appearance.
Rebecca Leslie surely got her birthday wish, as the Charge forward celebrated her 30th birthday in front of a hometown crowd of 13,112 fans.
Fanuza Kadirova opened the scoring for the Charge with six minutes left in the opening frame, firing a quick-release from the slot through traffic. It is the second goal of the postseason for the Russian sensation, making her the first on the team to score multiple playoff goals.
The Charge has now opened the scoring in all three games of this series, a remarkable feat considering the Fleet led all teams in the regular season with 23 first goals in 30 games.
But as it has been in every game between these two teams, the Fleet did not let the Charge run away with things easily. Liz Schepers scored off a rebound chance from Shay Maloney's shot just five minutes into the second period to tie the game at one.
While discipline seemed to become a problem for Ottawa after it took a pair of roughing penalties near the end of the second period, Ottawa's penalty kill was once again a bright spot and remains a perfect 11-for-11 in this series, despite no shortage of chances for Boston on the power play.
Gwyneth Philips made an impressive 37 saves for her second straight postseason win.
The puck drops on Game 4 back at the Canadian Tire Centre on Sunday, May 10 at 3 p.m.
