Ottawa, May 13 – The Ottawa Charge have just taken a 2-1 series lead in their PWHL semi-final against the Montréal Victoire off of a shutout performance from goaltender Gwyneth Philips. The series, a best of 5, may now be ended on Friday if the Charge can pull off a victory on their own home ice.
This game, a follow-up to the 4OT thriller on Mother’s day, saw both teams’ goaltenders continue to put up strong performances. The Charge’s Gwyneth Philips, off a loss where she had to fend off over 50 shots before letting in the game-winning goal 135 minutes into the game, came back tonight with a vengeance, completely shutting the Victoire out of all 26 scoring opportunities. For the Victoire, goalie Ann-Renée Desbiens also had a strong performance, stopping 24 of the 25 Charge shots for a .960 game save percentage. Philips was named the game’s 1st star, while Desbiens was the 3rd star.
The 2nd star, of course, was Mannon McMahon, the member of the Charge who scored the game-winning-goal halfway through the third period. This goal was McMahon’s first of the series, and it was assisted by Gabbie Hughes and Ronja Savolainen. McMahon caught a rebound off the pad of Desbiens, and slotted the puck into the net before Desbiens could recover, marking the only goal of the game.
Gwyneth Philips of the Charge has put up phenomenal performances in these playoffs, making her GAA and save pct. better with each passing game in the three matches she’s suited up for so far. There were some questions about which netminder the Charge would run going into the playoffs, as Philips + Emerance Maschmeyer possibly make up the best goalie tandem in the PWHL.
Off of a strong last 6 games of the regular season wherein Philips never dipped below a save pct. of .926, and where the Charge went 4-1, however, it became apparent that Philips was the more in-form goalie for the playoffs. Still, having Maschmeyer on standby is a privilege as head coach Carla MacLeod has noted in the past. Maschmeyer was not dressed tonight.
Now, the Charge have the opportunity to end the series on home-ice at the TD Place on Friday, likely to a crowd of similar size of the over 7,000 fans who showed up to this game. If goaltender Gwyneth Philips can keep up the performances she’s put up this far, the Charge are poised for a playoff run.
Three Stars of the Game: Gwyneth Philips, Mannon McMahon, Ann-Renée Desbiens
| Star | Player | Notes |
| First Star: | Gwyneth Philips | 26-save shutout |
| Second Star: | Mannon McMahon | Game-winning-goal |
| Third Star: | Ann-Renée Desbiens | 24 saves on 25 shots |
