Alexa Vasko's Pair Of Goals Lift Ottawa Over Minnesota

It was Alexa Vasko’s first pair of goals in an Ottawa Charge sweater that lifted her team over the Minnesota Frost just days after a 5-0 romp in their Takeover Tour game in Carolina.

Sitting in fifth place in the PWHL standings, the win brings Ottawa within five points of the final playoff position with just eight games remaining in the regular season. Captain Brianne Jenner said her team is getting closer to the hockey required to see the postseason for the first time in franchise history.

“At this point in the season, our goal is just to get a playoff spot, but we’ve also gotta figure out how to start playing our playoff hockey style and I thought tonight we had glimpses of that,” Jenner said.

The Charge led the contest right off the hop after captain Brianne Jenner tucked a rebound past Frost goaltender Maddie Rooney. Ottawa also held the visitors to just two shots in the opening frame, relieving the usually busy Emerance Maschmeyer after a rough start in Carolina.

“We wanted to just prove to ourselves that we could get back to our game,” Jenner said. “We were just chomping at the bit to get out there tonight.”

Scoring has been a struggle for the Charge since their very first PWHL game, but the depth delivered with Vasko netting her first two goals of the season. The first cushioned Ottawa’s lead midway through the second period after Natalie Snodgrass pounced on a giveaway to set up Vasko for a one-timer.

“[Snodgrass] did a great work on that forecheck there and made a nice pass and all I had to do was put it in the net, so props to her on that one,” Vasko said.

Armed with a 2-0 lead headed into the final frame, the Charge faltered midway through the period to squander their lead entirely. First came Taylor Heise’s snipe from the point.

In another stroke of bad luck for Ottawa, just moments after Maschmeyer made her 1000th career save — the first PWHL goaltender to reach the mark in regular season play — she sustained an injury, needing to be helped off the ice by two trainers.

“It’s certainly a moment that you're just trying to rally the girls and just say, ‘hey, let's go get this one from Masch,’ and that's exactly what the team did,” said head coach Carla MacLeod.

Gwyneth Philips came into the net in relief, but was soon embroiled in a controversial goal on Claire Thompson’s one-timer just minutes later. Minnesota’s Michela Cava stayed close to Philips in her crease as she tried to track the play across the ice, but Philips was unable to stop Thompson’s blast.

After a lengthy video review following Ottawa’s challenge of the goal, the play was determined a good goal, much to the dismay of the Charge faithful. It was back to square one, and an ensuing penalty call against Ottawa even threatened to put them behind with just minutes remaining in regulation.

But Vasko had other plans, taking a diving sweep pass from Ronja Savolainen and beating Rooney all alone.

“[Savolainen] made a heck of a play diving for the puck just to pop it loose and I just had to put it in, so a huge team effort there,” Vasko said.

The 26-year-old depth player wasn’t willing to divulge any secrets as to how she knew where to shoot on the veteran goalie.

“I can't give any secrets there, but our staff does a great job giving the resources that we need and prepares us for the game.”

Jenner praised her team’s ability to bounce back from a situation it hasn’t been able to claw out of many times in the past.

“There was sort of a balance of calm, but also desperation and urgency to make plays and especially in the end to kind of seal that win,” she said.