by Erin Flaherty Barfield
BEVERLY, MA— The Boston Pride swept the New York Riveters in the semifinals of the Isobel Cup Playoffs with a 7-4 victory in game two of the series.
Gigi Marvin got the scoring started 7:38 into the game with an assist from Amanda Pelkey. Marvin assisted as Hilary Knight doubled the lead for the Pride four minutes later on a power play with Meghan Fardelmann in the box on an elbowing call. The Riveters cut into Boston’s lead with just over five minutes left in the period as Madison Packer put one past Brittany Ott. Jillian Dempsey scored a 4-on-4 goal in the final minute to put Boston back up by two. Kacey Bellamy and Zoe Hickel assisted on the final goal of the period.
In the second, Jenny Scrivens came on in relief of Riveters starter Nana Fujimoto. Boston took advantage of the carried over 4-on-4 play in the first minute of the second as Blake Bolden put the Pride ahead 4-1. Knight scored her second power play goal of the night with help from Decker and Bellamy six minutes into the period, putting Boston up 5-1.
New York took advantage of Boston’s penalty trouble in the middle of the period, with Kiira Dosdall scoring one second before a 5-on-3 advantage expired with 8:37 on the clock. Decker quickly answered back with a shorthanded goal from Knight 13 seconds later to put Boston up 6-2. Still on the power play, the Riveters’ Lyudmila Belyakova cut Boston’s lead in half with help from Gaby Figueroa 11 seconds after Decker’s strike.
Both teams found themselves in penalty trouble throughout the third period. But, a Boston bench minor for too many players on the ice resulted in the Riveters’ fourth goal of the night from Celeste Brown with just over five minutes remaining, as New York pulled Scrivens for a 6-on-4 advantage. Knight netted her third of the night with an empty net with just 1:16 left on the clock to seal the win for Boston.
Boston will travel to Newark, New Jersey next weekend to face the winner of the Connecticut/Buffalo series which is tied at one and will be decided on Sunday at 6PM.
