ST. PAUL, Minn. — Liz Schepers scored 12 minutes into overtime and the Minnesota Frost won their second straight PWHL Walter Cup with a 2-1 win over the Ottawa Charge on Monday night in Game 4.
Each game in the best-of-five series went to at least one overtime and finished 2-1, with Game 3 going to triple overtime, the longest game in PWHL Finals history. The teams played 81 minutes, eight seconds of extra time in the series. The fourth game came exactly a year after Minnesota fell to Boston 1-0 in a Game 4 double overtime before going on the road to win the inaugural Walter Cup.
Katy Knoll went along the wall and fed Schepers in front of the net. Goaltender Gwyneth Philips parried the first shot, but Schepers poked home the rebound to clinch back-to-back Walter Cup titles for the Frost. Maddie Rooney had 33 saves for Minnesota.
Midway through the second period, Claire Thompson pinched in from the left point and fed Kelly Pannek alone on the right side of the net. Pannek beat Philips high for her second playoff goal. The goal marked the first time in the finals the Charge trailed in regulation.
The Charge trailed until the middle of the third period when Tereza Vanisova was alone in front of the net and Danielle Serdachny fed her from below the end line.
It was the first point of the postseason for Vanisova, who led Ottawa with 15 goals.
Philips had 36 saves. The rookie had 148 saves in overtime in the postseason.
Ottawa’s Aneta Tejralova, on a rush, hit the left post with a shot about five minutes into overtime and the Frost’s Taylor Heise hit the right post about four minutes later.
