Saturday night indeed featured several firsts. The Boston Pride and the New York Riveters were facing off for the first time since their meeting in the first round of the Isobel Cup Playoffs, where the Pride swept the Riveters in a best-of-3 series; the highly touted forward Amanda Kessel from the University of Minnesota was making her debut in the NWHL for the Riveters; and last but not least, Sojung Shin, a member of the Korean National Team, was making her NWHL debut as the Riveter’s starting goaltender for the upcoming season.
The Riveters came out with an extra jump in the first period and the Pride were quick to match. Neither team wasted too much time before getting on the scoresheet either. At 3:29, Alex Carpenter scored the second goal of her professional career by capitalizing on a wide open net after netminder Shin gave up a rebound from a shot by Jillian Dempsey. Almost a minute later, the Riveters struck back on the other end of the ice with Miye O’Dench registering her first goal of the season with an assist from Amanda Kessel.
The second period was eerily familiar to the second period of the previous night’s contest between the Pride and the Buffalo Beauts. The momentum turned in favor of the Pride when Boston netminder Brittany Ott made a sensational save on a breakaway opportunity by Morgan Fritz-Ward early in the second period. The Pride immediately retook possession of the puck and drew blood on a 4-on-4 goal by the Pride co-captain Brianna Decker, recording her first goal this season at 3:24.
Decker’s goal was followed up shortly by a power play for the Pride, allowing the Pride to capitalize on the man-advantage when Jillian Dempsey connected with Blake Bolden on a cross-ice pass, putting the Pride up 3-1 at 4:21.
These two quick goals only served as fuel to the fire for the Pride, who extended their lead after Riveters’ netminder Shin gave up two juicy rebounds, allowing Decker to tuck the puck into the net for her second goal of the night at 10:55. The Pride onslaught continued in less than two minutes after Rachel Llanes cashed in at 12:42 thanks to a beautiful cross-ice pass from defenseman Alyssa Gagliardi. With the Pride up 5-1, Head Coach Chad Wiseman decided to activate Riveters’ backup goaltender Katie Fitzgerald to fill in for Shin, hoping to somehow inject additional energy into the team.
The Riveters, who were determined from the start of the game to prove any doubters wrong, did just that. With the help of a 5-3 power play, Milica McMillen fired a laser from the high slot, beating Pride netminder Ott through the five-hole at 14:42 to bring the Riveters within four goals of tying this game up.
The start of the third period saw a revitalized Riveters team, determined to claw their way back to the top of the scoresheet. In a play showcasing unshakeable determination, former Buffalo Beaut Tatiana Rafter capitalized at 6:33 on a rebound after a wrap-around attempt by Rebecca Russo, bringing the Riveters two within two.
The Riveters were handed another power play opportunity with less than 7 minutes left to turn this into a brand new game. The Pride, however, sought to finish the game on a strong note. After a turnover by the by the Riveters, Emily Field was off to the races on a breakaway opportunity to score the Pride’s sixth goal of the night at 14:50, which all but sealed the game for Boston.
Boston and New York will each play their home openers next weekend.
