In front of 9,389 fans, Seattle carried the momentum from their late third-period comeback victory over the New York Sirens before the international break, led by the forward line of Alex Carpenter, Julia Gosling and Hilary Knight who combined for three goals and seven points. Gosling opened the scoring on a Torrent power play with just three seconds left in the first period.
Carpenter broke the game open in the second period with a pair of goals at 6:25 (PP) and 11:29. Hannah Bilka was involved in three of the match’s four goals, recording a primary assist on Gosling’s goal and assisting on Carpenter’s first goal, before scoring an empty net goal of her own at 6:30 of the third period.
Ottawa’s Rebecca Leslie refused to let the Charge go away quietly, stealing the shutout from Hannah Murphy with her late goal in the third period at 19:21.
Murphy turned away 24/25 shots to record her second win in two starts, the first rookie in PWHL history to accomplish the feat. She combined with the Charge’s Sanni Ahola – who was making her PWHL debut – to form the first all-rookie goaltending matchup of the season. Ahola became the first Finnish goaltender to appear in a PWHL match, with 20/23 saves.
On Sunday, the Charge faced Minnesota in Chicago in the second stop on the PWHL Takeover Tour™, while the Torrent hosted Boston Sunday and Montréal Tuesday in the final games of a five-game homestand before their first-ever Takeover Tour appearance in Dallas (December 28).
QUOTES
Seattle forward Julia Gosling when I returned after a two-week break: “It’s definitely a challenge. Luckily I got to play, and a few of us got to play in the Rivalry Series, but kudos to the girls in Seattle who worked really hard and stayed at it. We really appreciate the work they put in. Their spirits were great and we came into the game hard in the first period, and I was quite impressed with our outcome considering this was our first game in a few weeks.”
Torrent head coach Steve O’Rourke on the team’s power play performance: “I like how they moved it; I like that they had a shot mentality and numbers around the net. I joke with them about how I’m glad they didn’t waste time on the first one. I hate starting power plays in the second or third period because it’s hard to get the momentum going. They did a good job, and it was nice to get that goal. We’ve been in this building where it’s taken us some time to to get that first goal, and it’s going to be We wanted to perform in front of the fans, get loose and just play freely. It was nice to get that first one where we did that in the period and that gave us momentum heading into the second one.
Ottawa head coach Carla MacLeod about the efforts of her group: “I thought [our effort] was huge. Effort has never been an issue this season. We pulled it out in back-to-back games, and I couldn’t be more proud of how we played. As a coach, I wish for an offensive breakthrough for our group, because we work so hard. This is just another game where we walk away with the only disappointment being that we didn’t get any points.”
Charging Goalscorer Rebecca Leslie on the team’s offensive and scoring opportunities: “Snakebitten is probably a good word to describe our offense right now. It would be different if we didn’t have scoring opportunities. We’re getting into scoring areas; we’re just not getting the bounces going our way. We’re in the right places and it will come eventually. We have to keep believing in our systems and each other. We kept pushing until the last minute and it shows a lot about our group and our character.”
NOTES
Hannah Murphy‘s two wins in two starts eclipses the two wins in three starts that Boston rookie Emma Söderberg recorded during her first season. The second-round pick from Seattle has surrendered one goal in each of her two starts and currently ranks fourth among all goaltenders with a .959 save percentage.CLICK HERE FOR STATISTICS
Alex Timmerman was involved in three of Torrent’s four goals, registered her first multi-point game of the season and has now scored power-play goals in consecutive games. The alternate captain’s only other three-point performance came in New York’s season opener on December 1, 2024 (2G, 1A) and was also part of the last time she scored in consecutive games (December 1-4, 2024). In her three previous two-goal games, Carpenter has only once scored both goals in regulation and in one period (Feb. 21, 2024 in the first period vs. Montreal).
Hanna Bilka‘s first-ever three-point night (1G, 2A) and first career multi-point streak have her atop the league lead in points with six (2G, 4A) after four games. The sophomore forward assisted on four straight Torrent goals in a two-game span, all on the power play, and scored the first-ever empty net goal in team history.
Julia Gosling scored her third goal of the season and second assist and participated Carpenter tied for second in the league in points (five) and second overall in goals. After just four games, Gosling is just one goal shy of her 2024-2025 total (30 games played) and halfway to her rookie points total.
Hilary Knight scored multiple points in back-to-back games tonight with two assists. The Torrent captain has three power-play points (1G, 2A) in her last two games after scoring eight of her 29 points (4PPG, 4PPA) from the lead with Boston last season.
The top line trio of Gosling–Carpenter–Knight scored seven of Seattle’s nine goals this season. The other two goals were scored by Bilka.
Megan Carter recorded her first point of the season with a primary assist on Carpenter’s second goal. The assist matches her rookie season total over 19 games with Toronto in 2024-2025.
Rebecca Leslie scored her second goal of the season for the Charge, matching her first season high with Toronto in 24 games. The Ottawa native’s four points in six games surpassed her 2024-25 total (1G, 2A) in 27 games with her hometown team.
Rory Guilday picked up a primary assist for her fourth point of the season (1G, 3A) to lead all rookies in scoring. The fifth overall pick ranks third in points among defensemen.
Sanni Ahola became the 13th goaltender to play in the PWHL this season and the fourth all-time international netminder in the league. The fifth-round Charge from St. Cloud State University has represented Finland in three consecutive Women’s Worlds and has earned consecutive bronze medals.
Lily Delianedis made her PWHL debut for the Torrent, recording an on-ice time of 7:03 after being selected by the team in the third round of the 2025 PWHL Draft.
Aneta Tejralova returned to the Torrent lineup for the first time since the season opener to face her former team. The Czech defenseman played 13:58 and was a plus-2 after missing two games due to a lower-body injury.
Fanuza Kadirova left the game in the second period with an upper-body injury and did not return.
Gabby Hughes missed her second straight game for the Charge and is listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury.
Natalie Snodgrass missed her first game of the season for the Torrent due to illness.
Seattle’s power play set up two goals for the second straight game, stringing four straight conversions together. The Torrent leads the league with an efficiency of 30.8% with the player advantage.
Ottawa has scored one goal in each loss of their current four games.
THREE STARS
1. Alex Carpenter (SEA) 2G, 1A
2. Hannah Murphy (SEA) 24/25 SV
3. Hannah Bilka (SEA) 1G, 2A
STANDINGS
Seattle (2-0-1-1) – 4th place (tie)
Ottawa (1-0-0-5) – 8th place
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