The Isobel Cup Has Been Raised: Pride Sweep Straight into History.

Gigi Marvin hoists the Isobel Cup in front of a crowd of on Saturday. Photo by Jessica Ayala

On Saturday at the Prudential Center “Hockey House”, the Boston Pride beat the Buffalo Beauts 3-1. The victory completed a four game playoffs sweep of the New York Riveters and the Buffalo Beauts to become the first Isobel Cup Champions in NWHL history.

Game 1 Recap

The Pride won a controversial thriller on Friday, defeating the Beauts 4-3 in a game that saw overtime and a game winning penalty shot.

After a scoreless first period, Blake Bolden of the Pride got the scoring started. The Buffalo Beauts began the second on a power play. Within the last moments of the advantage, Kelley Steadman mishandled a pass. Jordan Smelker corralled the loose puck and fed a pass to Brianna Decker. Decker challenged Beauts goalie Brianne McLaughlin to no avail. McLaughlin was able to make the initial save, but a trailing Bolden put away the rebound.

With roughly nine minutes left in the second, Buffalo benefitted from another power play. However, Hailey Browne of the Beauts was quickly called for a penalty, cancelling out the player advantage. Gigi Marvin made Buffalo pay right away, putting Boston up 2-0 in the second period.

The Beauts would get one back with three minutes left in the period. Erin Zack made a brilliant sliding stop to break up a cross-ice pass. Steadman controlled the puck and went on the attack. After a wide shot by Emily Pfalzer the Beauts would re-group and Shelby Bram found the back of the net. The Mercyhurst alumna recorded the first Buffalo goal of the Isobel Cup Finals.

Hilary Knight tries to track down the puck (NWHL/Troy Perla)

In the 3rd period, Pfalzer secured a loose puck and shot a laser, beating Brittany Ott and tying the game. The Beauts offense continued to attack, putting pressure on Pride net minder, Brittany Ott. Boston got into trouble, offering a 5-3 advantage for the Beauts. “We just wanted to use our time wisely and get a good shot to the net, that way we could produce a goal” said Captain Emily Pfalzer of the power play opportunity. The patience paid off, Kelley Steadman scored the go-ahead goal.

The Beauts, however, would not hold the lead for long. Hilary Knight slammed home a rebound that sailed high and out of reach of McLaughlin. The tie held through regulation, sending Game 1 of the Isobel Cup Finals into overtime.

Early into overtime, a penalty shot was awarded to the Boston Pride. It would be Knight to face McLaughlin in the chance to end the game, and she delivered.

After the game Gigi Marvin emphasized that Saturday, the Pride would have to clean up their play, but also planned to enjoy the win “there's a lot to work on, but it's great to show that heart at the end [of the game].”

Game 2 Recap

Saturday was do or die for the Beauts and the team planned to rely on their gritty play to force another game. “I think we gotta just forget about this one,” said McLaughlin, “we have it in us to win. We did it last weekend and that will be the same goal.”

Both teams seemed to struggle to find a rhythm in the first period. Brianna Decker put her team on the board first with under ten minutes left in the first period. The 1-0 score would hold through the second period, as both goalies and defensive lines viciously protected the net.

Decker would score her second of the game in the third period to make it 2-0 Pride. She cleaned up the rebound from a beautiful save by McLaughlin to deny Knight a goal. “Honestly, I felt like I had my legs under me. We moved the puck really well as a team though.”

The Beauts did a better job connecting on passes and challenging Ott, but she was up for the challenge, “Brittany Ott just stood on her head today”, said Decker after the game. The big scorers for Buffalo just couldn't find a way to beat Brittany.

Boston scored their final goal as Smelker fed Knight in the slot. She put away what instantly felt like the coup de grâce to the Beauts season, making the score 3-0. With roughly 8 minutes left, the Beauts battled hard, but came two goals shy of forcing overtime. Erin Zach with tallied the lone goal for the Beauts under a minute left in the game, and ultimately the NWHL season.

A celebration for Denna Laing (NWHL/Troy Perla)

Time to Celebrate

Brianna Decker was named MVP of the finals; she finished the playoffs with 9 points; 5 goals and 4 assists. After the game, Decker and the rest of the team honored Denna Laing, making sure their teammate was part of the celebration. Laing suffered a severe spinal injury during the Outdoor Women's Classic.

Brittany Ott spoke of sharing the moment with Laing, “Wish Denna could be here with us right now, but we just face timed her, so that was pretty awesome for her. I was welling up a little bit, I had to blink [tears] away.”

MVP Decker also honored Denna and the rest of her teammates, “We had some struggles throughout the year, we [had] a little bit of a bumpy season in the beginning, and then we had player injured around Christmas time. But [Denna] strengthened us though. Her strength throughout the last three months has been unbelievable and we don't take that for granted at all.”

The entire team celebrated an inaugural season that ended 11-0, making them the first ever Isobel Cup Champions.

Follow Erica Ayala on Twitter @elindsay08