Minnesota Frost fans could smile and be happy Saturday as they watched their team cruise to an 8-1 victory over the Boston Fleet, securing a playoff spot.
Minnesota struck early, scoring back-to-back goals from Britta Curl-Salemme and Lee Stecklein in the first four minutes of play. Kendall Coyne Schofield would then get the third goal of the first period.
A substitution from Boston at goaltender in the second period still didn’t slow the Frost down as they scored on a pair of goals from Sophia Jaques and another from Curl-Salemme.
A sixth goal was secured by Brooke McQuigge, who scored a goal on Boston’s empty net with 12:37 left in regulation. Then a seventh goal was scored by Jaques, her second of the night.
Boston would finally get on the board with a goal from Jessica Digirolamo, making the score 7-1.
The Frost didn’t take their broken shutout lightly, adding another goal from Klara Hymlarova with less than a minute left in regulation, resulting in the game’s final 8-1 score.
Playoff position now secured, the Frost will either take on the Montréal Victore or the Toronto Scepters. Under PWHL rules, the one seed, which is Montréal, gets to decide who their first-round opponent will be.
The Victore will announce their decision at 5 p.m. Sunday.
Once decided, the Frost will need to win a best-of-five-game series to advance to the finals, and if they succeed, win another best-of-five to defend themselves as champions of the PWHL.
The first round will begin on May 7; Minnesota will be the visiting team, regardless of who their opponent will be.
For Related Stories: Minnesota Frost  PWHL Minnesota