By Eli Silverstone
Photos by Eli Silverstone
The Toronto Sceptres defeated the New York Sirens 4-2 on Saturday afternoon in the second edition of The Battle on Bay Street at Scotiabank Arena.
The sold-out crowd of 19,102 had plenty to cheer about in a back-and-forth affair, highlighted by two goals from Hannah Miller and a game-winner by Sarah Nurse in the final minute.
In a celebration of Toronto female sports, Toronto Tempo president Teresa Resch dropped the ceremonial puck, AFC Toronto players announced the starting lineups, Northern Super League Co-Founder Diana Matheson was recognized and multiple other athletes were recognized, including members of the U18 Women's World champions and multiple Olympians.
“The last few years in women's sports, especially in Toronto here, has been really huge. There’s a lot of buzz” said Nurse.
Toronto came out energized but still needed goalie Raygan Kirk to make a couple great saves in the opening minutes to settle everyone down. In Toronto’s first power play against New York’s league leading penalty kill unit (90%), Nurse had an empty net but rang the puck off the iron as the crowd groaned.
Defender Megan Carter made her PWHL debut in the game for the Sceptres after being selected with the 12th overall pick in the 2024 PWHL draft. In the first period, she made a nice defensive stop on a two-on-one to get herself acclimated to the league.
“(Carter) gave us a little bit of depth in the back end and the steady presence was nice to have,” said Sceptres head coach Troy Ryan.
Her defence led to offence when a point shot by Kali Flanagan was redirected by Miller with just over a minute to play. Miller's second-ever goal at Scotiabank Arena—she scored on her birthday in last year's Battle on Bay Street—gave the Sceptres the lead at the end of a period they had mostly dominated.
At the end of the first, a hopeful atmosphere in the stadium became evident. After falling just short of a Walter Cup last season, Toronto currently sits in last place in the standings more than a third of the way through the season. But you’d never be able to tell if you walked around the concourse of thousands wearing Sceptres jerseys.
At the halfway point of the game, the Sirens had just eight shots, well behind the 19 the Sceptres had thrown at goaltender Corinne Schroeder. Quantity proved unimportant at this point, though, as just 30 seconds after that halfway point passed—on a penalty taken by the rookie Carter—the Sirens’ Alex Shelton found the back of the net with a low snapshot. Alex Carpenter and Sarah Fillier assisted Shelton's goal, pushing the teammates to first and second in the PWHL in points respectively.
The game stayed tied and close for a bit, but inevitably, Miller would find the net again. She stole the puck at New York’s blue line and went five-hole on Shroeder to give Toronto the 2-1 lead with a minute to play in the third.
“Just tried to look for my spot and pick it. Just lucky it went in,” said Miller, who took the league lead with her sixth goal of the season.
New York was ready to go to start the third period. One minute into the final frame, a cross-ice pass in Toronto’s zone from Jessie Eldridge to Abby Roque gave her plenty of time to bury the equalizer. While Roque tied things right back up at two with her third goal of the year, Eldridge moved into a tie for third in the PWHL in points with 10.
“People don’t give [Eldridge] enough credit. She’s one of the best goal scorers in the league,” said Roque.
While the shot counter still showed a 28-11 advantage at this point, the season has shown that’s not necessarily an indication of whether Toronto is playing well or not. The Sceptres lead the PWHL in shots-per-game with an average of 30.91 and have outshot their opponent in seven consecutive games, yet hold a 3-4 record in that stretch.
With six minutes to play, Nurse slipped into the slot and found the puck, one-timing it towards Schroeder, but a beautiful glove save kept this game tied.
Seconds later, Miller drew a tripping penalty that would prove crucial to the game’s result.
Ten seconds into the powerplay, Nurse finally beat Shroeder. It was a quick pass from Toronto product Daryl Watts out to Nurse that allowed her to quickly roof a puck over the same glove that just robbed her.
“A couple of missed opportunities. Just frustrating. But I had a lot of support from my girls on the bench today,” said Nurse when speaking to the scoring chances she had.
New York pressured for the tying goal in the final minutes with a scrum around Kirk but Flanagan emerged from the pile with the puck and slid a full-rink shot into the empty net to secure the win.
After a couple of heartbreaking losses and an overall inconsistent season, Toronto fans are hopeful the result can turn their season around.
“This team has been trending in the right direction and I do believe that we’ll continue to get rewarded,” said Ryan.
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