Boston scored three second-period goals to power its way to a 4-3 victory over Minnesota in Game 1 of the PWHL Finals Sunday night in Lowell, Mass.
Jess Healey scored the go-ahead goal unassisted 17 minutes, 25 seconds into the second period that gave Boston a 4-3 lead, one it would not surrender. Boston also got goals from Taylor Wenczkowski and Hannah Brandt during the period.
Minnesota pulled goaltender Maddie Rooney with 1 minute, 35 seconds remaining in the third period, but it was unable to find the tying goal during the late push.
Rooney stopped 18 of the 22 Boston shots she faced.
Boston’s Aerin Frankel stopped 30 of 33 Minnesota shots.
Former Gophers standout Taylor Heise did score a pair of second-period goals for Minnesota, the first of which put the team up 2-1 when she scored 8 minutes, 4 seconds into the frame. But that was quickly followed by the tying goal from Wenczkowski and a go-ahead from Brandt, which came 15 minutes, 11 seconds in.
Heise’s second goal 17 minutes, 10 seconds into the period tied it back up at 3-3, but that was short-lived as Healey scored the go-ahead tally just 15 seconds later.
Michela Cava put Minnesota on the scoreboard first, scoring 4 minutes, 38 seconds into the first period off assists from Heise and Natalie Buchbinder. Cava finished with a goal and two assists, assisting on each of Heise’s second-period goals.
Boston tied it up at 1-1 when Susanna Tapani answered with a first-period goal 7 minutes, 8 seconds into the frame off assists from Emily Brown and Megan Keller.
