NEWARK, NJ – Rookie Sarah Wozniewicz scored at 1:29 of overtime to give the Ottawa Charge a 4-3 victory over the New York Sirens on Tuesday night at Prudential Center. The goal stopped the Sirens from completing a comeback that saw them down 3-0 midway through the second period. Rebecca Leslie led the Charge offense with three points, including a first period goal at 16:08 when she buried a shot on a 2-on-1 rush, plus assists on Brianne Jenner’s second period power play goal at 6:53 and the overtime winner. Jenner and Gabbie Hughes finished with two points each, with the latter opening the scoring at 8:37 in the opening frame. Jaime Bourbonnais put the home team on the board at 12:40 of the second period as the Sirens took advantage of an offensive zone turnover. Kristin O’Neill cut the deficit to one with a power play goal at 11:55, followed by the equalizer by rookie Anne Cherkowski at 13:39 of the final frame. Sarah Fillier had two assists to lead all Sirens in points. Casey O’Brien nearly won it in overtime for the Sirens but was denied on a breakaway by Gwyneth Philips who made 31 saves in her seventh win of the season. Rookie Callie Shanahan got her first career start between the pipes for the Sirens, stopping 17 shots in her debut. New York holds onto second place with points in seven straight games, while Ottawa climbs into a fourth-place tie with Montréal after securing points in seven of their last eight games. Both teams return to action on the weekend, with Ottawa visiting Montréal on Saturday and New York traveling to Minnesota Sunday. The teams will meet back at Prudential Center on Mar. 8.
QUOTES
Ottawa Head Coach Carla MacLeod on what she says to her team before overtime (5 straight wins in those situations): “Tonight, I didn’t say much to the team. We had a shorthanded situation to start the overtime, so I was talking to the three players who were going to kill it. I gave them some ideas about what shapes we might see and how we’re going to defend it. We’ve played a lot of overtime this year, so our group is comfortable in these moments. They understand what needs to be done. I just didn’t like that we were in overtime. I thought we should have finished that game in regulation. Kudos to New York. They don’t stop. They’ve got a good energy in their group and they’re finding ways.”
Charge goaltender Gwyneth Philips on her many saves on breakaways: “Honestly, when someone is coming down on a breakaway, I try not to think about who they are. I don’t want to buy into their tendencies. Breakaways are fun. It’s part of the game. It makes things exciting. I love them. Bring them on is my kind of mentality on that.”
Sirens Head Coach Greg Fargo on the team’s comeback in the third period: “It was good. It started midway through the second period. We found ourselves in a 3–0 hole, but we had a good conversation on the bench. We were doing some good things, we just hadn’t sustained it up to that point. Our group did a great job finding a way to get one in the second, and that momentum carried into the third. It wasn’t the result we wanted, but it was a really resilient effort, especially playing three games in five nights with the travel. I’m proud of how the group fought back tonight.”
New York forward Anne Cherkowski on how the rookies can take the opportunity to help the team win: “Our team has done a great job creating an environment where the rookies can come in and play their game right away. They give us a lot of confidence to go out and do what we do, and it’s nice to contribute with a couple of goals to help the team.”
NOTABLES
Ottawa is the first team in PWHL history to go a perfect 5-for-5 in games decided beyond regulation in a single season, with their current streak including two overtime and three shootout victories.
New York extended their record points streak to seven games (5-0-2-0), the longest streak in the PWHL this season, and just the sixth time in league history a team has produced such a run.
The Charge have won four straight games at Prudential Center, including all three of their games last season in regulation.
Ottawa improved its league-leading power play to 21.4%, going 1-for-3 tonight. New York was 1-for-7 with the player advantage.
The Sirens outshot their opponent for the ninth time in 14 games. The Charge lead the league with five wins when being outshot in games this season.
New York previously erased a 3-0 deficit against Ottawa on Mar. 25, 2025, scoring six straight goals in the third period to win 6-3.
Sarah Wozniewicz became the first rookie in PWHL history to record two overtime goals in a season and leads all skaters in that category and in game-winning goals with three. All three goals this season by the Charge third-round pick have been winning tallies, bringing her point total to six through 14 games.
Rebecca Leslie has reached double digits in points for the first time in her career with 12 following her second three-point performance of the season. Her sixth goal in her 14th game doubled the three she compiled in 51 games in her first two seasons.
Gabbie Hughes recorded her third multi-point game of the season and first that included a goal after two previous multi-assist efforts. With eight points (2G, 6A) in 12 games, she’s now halfway to her career-high of 16 points (5G, 11A) produced in 29 games in 2024-25.
Brianne Jenner scored her team leading third power play goal and added an assist for her fourth multi-point game of the season. The Charge captain has produced offensively in four straight games at Prudential Center dating back to last season and has five goals and six points in five games so far in 2026 to bring her point total to 14 (8G, 6A) in 14 games, tied for the league lead. Ottawa is now 19-1 all-time in regular season action when she scores.
Jaime Bourbonnais snapped an 18-game goalless drought, scoring for the first time since Mar. 16, 2025 against Minnesota. The Sirens alternate captain has five points in 12 games, tied for the team lead among defenders.
Kristin O’Neill scored her third goal of the season and first on the power play, becoming the first veteran forward to score with the player advantage for the Sirens (rookies Kaltounková and O’Brien both have two power play goals each).
Anne Cherkowski has goals in two straight games after the first of her career on Sunday ended a 12-game goalless drought to launch her rookie campaign. The Sirens second-round pick has six points in 14 games, tied for sixth among rookies.
Gwyneth Philips has now made 30 or more saves in six of her 12 starts this season, most in the PWHL. The Charge netminder has won six of her last seven starts and her seven wins is tied for second in the PWHL.
Callie Shanahan is the second rookie goaltender in PWHL history to lose in overtime in her first professional start following Toronto’s Raygan Kirk on Dec. 21, 2024. The start by the Sirens fourth-round pick comes on a night when her former Boston University Terriers also lost in overtime to Harvard in the 47th Women’s Beanpot Championship and ends a streak of 13 straight games between the pipes for Kayle Osborne.
Sarah Fillier has recorded consecutive multi-assist games for the first time in her career and has five helpers in her last three games. Three of her assists this season have come on the power play, tied for third in the PWHL, while all nine points (1G, 8A) for the Sirens alternate captain have come in home games, including a four-game point streak at Prudential Center.
Kristýna Kaltounková recorded her first career assist with a primary helper to give her six points in her last six games. The Sirens first overall pick is the first player in PWHL history whose first eight points of a season were all goals.
Casey O’Brien picked up her fifth assist of the season and ninth point to tie Kaltounková for the lead among rookies. The Sirens third overall pick has four points (1G, 3A) in five games so far in 2026 and led tonight’s game with five shots on goal.
Jincy Roese registered her fifth assist as a member of the Sirens against her former team. She led all Charge defenders with 11 assists in 27 games last season.
Emily Clark tallied her first assist and second point of the season, extending her Prudential Center point streak to four straight games since 2024-25. The Charge alternate captain went the first 13 games without a helper this season, nearly doubling a stretch of seven games she went without registering an assist last March.
Stephanie Markowski notched her second assist and third point of the season. The Charge defender is more than halfway to the five points (1G, 4A) she recorded in 28 games as a rookie last season.
Taylor Girard missed her first game of the season for the Sirens, serving the first of a four-game suspension.
All three of Ottawa’s new players acquired Sunday in a trade with Vancouver saw action tonight with Michela Cava starting on the team’s third line with Kateřina Mrázová and Fanuza Kadirova, while Brooke McQuigge was on the second line with Clark and Hughes. Emma Greco started as the team’s seventh defender.
THREE STARS
1. Sarah Wozniewicz (OTT) OTW
2. Gwyneth Philips (OTT) 31/34 SV
3. Anne Cherkowski (NY) 1G
STANDINGS
New York: 23 PTS (7-0-2-5) – 2nd Place
Ottawa: 19 PTS (3-5-0-6) – 4th Place (Tied)
UPCOMING SCHEDULES
Ottawa: Saturday, Jan. 24 at Montréal at 2 p.m. ET
New York: Sunday, Jan. 25 at Minnesota at 3 p.m. ET
