TORONTO, ON – First overall PWHL Draft pick Sarah Fillier scored a hat-trick, kicked off with the first shorthanded ‘jailbreak’ goal of the pre-season, to power the New York Sirens to a 5-2 win over the Toronto Sceptres on Friday afternoon at Ford Performance Centre. Trailing 4-0 in the middle frame, Toronto captain Blayre Turnbull and Victoria Bach answered back for the Sceptres. The Sirens also saw goals from Noora Tulus and Kayla Vespa and got two assists from Jaime Bourbonnais. New York finished the pre-season Mini Camp with a 1-1 record and Toronto finished 0-2. Both teams lost their first scrimmages to the Minnesota Frost.Â
QUOTES
New York forward Sarah Fillier on her hat-trick performance: “I’m pretty happy with how the game went. It’s nice to get more reps with Carpy (Alex Carpenter) to try and build something for the season. It’s nice when we get a couple of bounces off the stick and stuff slipping through five-hole. Every game I’m trying to be dangerous in the offensive zone, so it’s nice for our line to get a few.”
New York head coach Greg Fargo on the chemistry between Sarah Fillier and Alex Carpenter: “We started to see it in practice one when they were on the same line together. Over time, they are seemingly getting more and more comfortable with each other, tendencies of their game, and where they like to get pucks. I think that’s a result of what they are doing on the ice but also when they’re on the bench together they’re constantly in conversation and finding ways to tweak and improve upon what just happened out there. The chemistry has been great, and hopefully it’s something that can build and sustain and help our team in the long run.”
Toronto forward Julia Gosling on integrating into the physical game: “It’s definately very competitive. Obviously with every team you play against it’s going to be a good game. They test you every single shift you’re on, if you have a bad shift, they’re going to expose you, so I think just figuring out the speed and the physicality. I think I handled myself pretty well with the aggressive play, but I think it’s just making those decisions quicker and I think that will come with just a couple more games, but it was fun to play with all the girls.
Toronto head coach Troy Ryan on area of focus before the season opener:”A big part of it is decision making. Some of the decisions we made were probably a little bit out of character – it could come with nerves too, just feeling the pressure of this situation and trying to do a little bit more than you’re capable of doing at this point in the season. Just settling in and making simple little plays probably gives you a benefit, like not trying to force plays in a 1-on-5 situation. It’s uncharacteristic of the group as I know it, so they’ll be better for sure.”
NOTABLES
In addition to her first period shorthanded goal, New York’s Sarah Fillier tallied a second period power play goal and a third period goal at even strength. Fillier led the game with six shots on goal, led all PWHL players with three goals in Mini Camp, and is one of six players to finish the scrimmages with three points.
Two New York players got their first taste of PWHL action including signed rookies Kayle Osborne and Noora Tulus. Osborne stopped all 16 shots she faced in 30:45 and Tulus scored the team’s second goal.
Emma Woods made her first appearance for Toronto against her former team. She signed a free agent contract in the off-season after spending the inaugural season with New York.
Kristen Campbell played the entire game in goal for Toronto. She ranked second in minutes played at 1293:57 during the inaugural season.
Blayre Turnbull led Toronto with five shots on goal.
Micah Zandee-Hart (NY) led all players in time on ice at 25:17. Rylind MacKinnon (TOR) led her team with 23:04 time on ice.
Toronto finished the pre-season with the fewest goals for (3) and the most goals against (8).
After regulation, the teams played a three-on-three overtime followed by a five-player shootout. New York won the shootout 3-2 with goals by Sarah Fillier, Noora Tulus and Abby Roque. Toronto shootout goals came from Izzy Daniel and Noemi Neubauerová.
New York had eight players in today’s lineup who are still competing to sign a 2024-25 contract including forwards Emmy Fecteau, Elle Hartje, Paetyn Levis, Gabby Rosenthal, Savannah Norcross and Kayla Vespa, defenders Taylor Baker and Olivia Zafuto.
Toronto had eight players in today’s lineup who are still competing to sign a 2024-25 contract including forwards Laura Kluge, Noemi Neubauerová, Anneke Rankila and Kaitlin Willoughby, defenders Lauren Bernard, Olivia Knowles, Jessica Kondas and Rylind MacKinnon.
SCORESHEET RECAP
New York 1 3 1 – 5
Toronto 0 2 0 – 2
1st Period-1, New York, Fillier 1 9:21 (SH). Penalties-Baker Ny (body checking), 7:42; Fillier Ny (tripping), 12:47.
2nd Period-2, New York, Tulus 1 (Hartje, Giguère), 3:18. 3, New York, Fillier 2 (Zandee-Hart, Bourbonnais), 5:39 (PP). 4, New York, Vespa 1 (Bourbonnais, Hobson), 12:30. 5, Toronto, Turnbull 1 (Maltais), 14:21. 6, Toronto, Bach 1 (Flanagan, MacKinnon), 16:08 (PP). Penalties-Bach Tor (delay of game), 1:15; Kluge Tor (tripping), 5:02; Hartje Ny (roughing), 15:09; Daniel Tor (tripping), 17:13; MacKinnon Tor (slashing), 19:25.
3rd Period- 7, New York, Fillier 3 (Carpenter), 5:14. Penalties-Turnbull Tor (cross checking), 1:14; Roque Ny (roughing), 2:49; Rosenthal Ny (cross checking), 15:23.
Shots on Goal-New York 11-11-9-31. Toronto 12-14-5-31.
Power Play Opportunities-New York 1 / 5; Toronto 1 / 5.
Goalies-New York, Osborne 1-0-0-0 (16 shots-16 saves); Levy 0-0-0-0 (15 shots-13 saves). Toronto, Campbell 0-1-0-0 (31 shots-26 saves).
THREE STARS
- Sarah Fillier (NY) 3G
- Jaime Bourbonnais (NY) 2A
- Blayre Turnbull (TOR) 1G
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
Toronto: Saturday, November 30 vs. Boston Fleet (Coca-Cola Coliseum)
New York: Sunday, December 1 at Minnesota Frost (Xcel Energy Center)
