It was a cold but sunny afternoon in Lowell, Massachusetts. An outstanding 4,607 fans came to attend this afternoon game. That is the most in attendance for Boston this season. Many people came out to enjoy the International Women’s Day celebration and a great afternoon of hockey. Boston was proud to welcome Elizabeth Warren to drop the ceremonial puck. Warren was the first ever woman to be elected into the Massachusetts Senate.
Boston fans did not need to wait long to see a goal. At almost four minutes into the game, Hannah Brandt pulled off a bank shot and it slipped right by Abigail Levy to give Boston the early lead. This was the only goal from the first period. Boston and their fans had their heads held high and the stadium was buzzing.
In the second period, Boston was caught trailing at the end. In the final half of the second Elizabeth Giguere scored the equalizer and Jaime Bourbonnais gave New York the go-ahead goal. This was an electric second period, with a total of five penalties and just two goals from New York.
The third period was a lot of back and forth from zone to zone. Boston had more shots on goal throughout the game but could not seem to capitalize on those shots. Until Sophie Shirley took the puck to the net off a feed from Susanna Tapani to tie the game early in the third period. The score stood at 2-2 as the regulation clock ticked down to zero and sent this game into overtime!
At this point, many Boston fans were relieved to have just secured a point in the standings. The stadium was loud and rumbling as the puck dropped for the overtime period. Shortly after, we had a two-on-one at the New York end, and Hannah Brandt completed a pass back to Jamie Lee Rattray where. Rattray took a shot that was saved, then Hannah Brandt buried a shot on the rebound to win the game with her second goal of the day! Emily Brown and Jamie Lee Rattray were ecstatic and took Hannah Brandt down during the celebration.
With a final score of 3-2 in overtime, Boston successfully kept their playoff spot. A regulation win or overtime/shootout win or loss against Minnesota on Wednesday will continue to secure that spot from Ottawa, who tied them in points last night.
