An enthusiastic crowd of 11,612 fans turned out for the second game of the league at Ball Arena to cheer on the two expansion teams who faced off for the second time this season on a busy day for local sports, including the Denver Broncos playing across the river in the AFC Championship.
Vancouver came out on top in both games after clinching an overtime win in their first game on Nov. 21 at Pacific Coliseum. With just five seconds left in the first period, Vancouver’s Jenn Gardiner opened the scoring with an unassisted goal that was kicked back to her from the faceoff.
Jessie Eldridge tied the game for Seattle with her 13:40 breakaway snapshot in the second period. Izzy Daniel gave the Goldeneyes the lead for good with her second consecutive game-winning goal 6:23 into the third, with Michelle Karvinen adding insurance for Vancouver with a rebound goal at 13:42.
Emerance Maschmeyer turned away 33/34 shots, including a 15-shot push by Seattle in the third period to earn her fourth win of the season, while Hannah Murphy made 28 saves in her third straight loss.
The Torrent and Goldeneyes, along with all PWHL teams, will play their final games before the league’s first-ever Olympic break on Wednesday, Jan. 28, with Seattle visiting Ottawa and Vancouver en route to Minnesota. From there, 14 players from the two rosters will travel to Italy for the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, which start on Thursday, February 5.
QUOTES
Vancouver forward Izzy Daniel on her recent scoring success: “My teammates are putting me in a good position. In terms of tonight’s goal, (Hannah) Miller made a great play against me and I just stood behind the door and put it in, so I think it’s a collective team effort and I’m just the one on the receiving end of the goals right now. It’s all credit to my teammates and my coaches for putting me in a good spot.”
Head coach Golden Eyes Brian Idalski on building momentum after his team’s penalty kill in the first period: “I thought we did a great job of getting the pucks deep behind their (defense) and trying to use our speed and predict them. When we do that, we create a lot of (opportunities). We didn’t capitalize on some of those opportunities early, but if we play the right way and simplify our game, it’s amazing how strong we’ll play as a group.”
Seattle head coach Steve O’Rourke‘s overall opinion of the match: “I didn’t think the first period went that well. After that though I thought we had more emotion in the second period and were rolling. I like the way we played in the second period and even in the third we had some good chances. Our face-offs are a strength and for the first time tonight I thought we missed some assignments and then we played catch-up in the last bit but we had some chances. I liked a lot of our play but there are small details that you always have to focus on how tight this competition is.”
Torrent forward Danielle Serdachny‘s reflections on her line’s performance: “I think our line did a great job of coming in with possession. We were able to create some opportunities on the rush, which I thought was great to keep getting pucks to the net. Hockey can be a little bit unlucky sometimes, and I thought that was about the way it went for us today. But I thought we had great opportunities, created some chaos in the crease and I’m looking forward to building on that.”
NOTES
Vancouver is coming off its most productive offensive stretch in team history with eight goals in the last two games and has tied its most efficient defensive stretch in two games, allowing just one goal against.
The Goldeneyes are 2-0-1-1 after four of their five PWHL Takeover Tour matches on the season, while the Torrent are 0-1-0-2 in three of their four Tour matches.
This was the first Takeover Tour match of the season to be decided by multiple goals, with each of the first nine decided by one goal, including five outside regulation.
The PWHL returned to Denver’s Ball Arena for the second time after hosting 14,018 fans last season – previously the U.S. attendance record – with Minnesota overtaking Montréal 4-2 on January 12, 2025.
Emerance Maschmeyer has allowed one or fewer goals in three games this season and made 30 or more saves in four games. The Canadian netminder is sharpening up for her second Olympics, recording her second-best save percentage of the season at .971, following her only shutout on December 6. The Bruderheim, AB goaltender’s 19th win tied her with Seattle’s Corinne Schroeder for fifth in the league all-time.
Jen Gardiner moved to second on the team by scoring with her third goal, fifth assist and eighth point of the season. The forward is the only player to score a goal in consecutive matches on the Denver Takeover Tour. He scored and was named second star for Montreal last season. As the Canadian prepares to represent her country in her first Olympic Games, momentum is on her side with points in consecutive matches for the second time this season and the first time in 2026 (2G, 1A, December 6-16).
Izzy Daniel found the back of the net for the fourth time this season with her third game winner and third goal in Takeover Tour matches. The second-year forward has points in back-to-back games for the first time in her career with two straight game-winning goals and has doubled her rookie goal total from last season with Toronto.
Michelle Karvinen scored her second goal of the season and has points in consecutive games for the second time in her first PWHL season (2A on Nov. 26-29). The forward has five points on the season and has just one Goldeneyes game remaining before representing Finland in her fifth Winter Olympics.
Jessie Eldridge found the back of the net for the fourth time this season and scored goals in back-to-back matches for the first time as a member of the Torrent (previously 15-17 February 2025). She now has six points in four games (3G, 3A), her most productive stretch so far this season.
Sara nurse scored her first assist of the season on Karvinen’s goal and now has points in four consecutive games (3G, 1A) for the fourth time in her career. This stretch is one match shy of the longest stretch of the Canadian’s career (2G, 4A, January 25-March 23, 2025) and currently ties her for the second-longest active spell in the league.
Hanna MolenaarThe fifth assist of the season was the main help on Daniel’s goal in the third period, breaking a four-game scoring drought, her longest of the season.
Tereza Vanišová was the key helper on Karvinen’s goal, her team-leading seventh of the season. The Czech Olympian also recorded points in consecutive matches (1G, 2A) for the first time as a member of the Goldeneyes.
Julia Gosling extended her team’s scoring lead with her sixth assist and 12th point of the season, providing a primary helper. The soon-to-be Canadian Olympian continues her breakout season with points in four consecutive matches for the first time in her career, maintaining the second-longest active streak in the league (2G, 2A since Jan. 11).
Anna Wilgren broke a four-game scoring drought with her fourth assist of the season and the lead among Seattle defensemen. Through thirteen games, the former Montreal Victoire is now just two helpers away from her season high of six in thirty games.
Hannah Murphy started her sixth game between the pipes and is the only rookie in the league to play in more than three games this season. After securing the win and not allowing more than one goal in each of her first three matches, the Canadian netminder has three consecutive losses, allowing three or more goals in each match.
Hannah Bilka And Mikyla Grant-Mentis both had a game-high six shots on goal. It’s a season-high total for both players, with Grant-Mentis reaching the total twice.
Aneta Tejralova missed her second straight game and is listed as day-to-day with a lower-body injury.
THREE STARS
1. Izzy Daniel (FROM) 1G
2. Michelle Karvinen (VAN) 1G
3. Jessie Eldridge (SEA) 1G
STANDINGS
Vancouver: 19 PTS (5-1-2-7) – 5th place (tied)
Seattle: 16 PTS (4-1-2-6) – 8th place
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