LOWELL, MA – Natalie Spooner scored a hat trick to help Toronto to a 5-3 winagainst Boston at the Tsongas Center at UMass Lowell on Wednesday, her team’s third straight regulation victory. The forward now has ten goals on the season, four more than the next best in the category.
Spooner’s first two goals of the game came in the middle frame, which gave Toronto 2-0 and 3-0 leads.
Her first, a powerplay goal scored at 11:49 of the second period, came after the forward corralled a heads-up stretch pass from defender Lauriane Rougeau. Spooner finished the play with a slick deke on the breakaway, tucking the puck in on the forehand past Boston goaltender Emma Söderberg. Toronto netminder Kristen Campbell also picked up an assist on the play, her first point of the season.
Then, at 17:07, Spooner gave her team a 3-0 lead after linemate Sarah Nurse created a 2-on-1 rush to start the play, deftly crossing in front of a Boston defender at the hash marks and dropping the puck back to a trailing Spooner. The Scarborough, ON native then slid the puck in behind a sprawling Söderberg, potting her second goal of the game — her third multi-goal game in a row.
At 17:33 of the final frame Spooner completed the hat trick — her first in the PWHL — and solidified the win for Toronto with a goal into the empty net after Söderberg had gone to the bench for the extra attacker. Emma Maltais picked up her third assist of the contest on the marker.
Nurse opened the scoring at 14:13 of the first period after Maltais took a pass from defender Renata Fast and carried the puck into the Boston zone. Maltais let a shot go from the middle of the ice, the puck deflecting off a Boston defender and landing on the stick of the driving Nurse, who placed a quick shot over the shoulder of Söderberg for her second goal of the season.
Boston finally broke through at 6:04 of the third frame when Theresa Schafzahl rang a shot off the post and linemate Jamie Lee Rattray jumped on the rebound, notching her second tally of the season to make the game 3-1.
However, just 1:24 later, Toronto’s Kali Flanagan restored the three-goal lead after she picked up the puck on the boards and walked the blueline before firing a shot that found the back of the net through a heavy screen. Maltais picked up the assist on Flanagan’s first goal of the year.
With Rattray in the box for tripping, it was that Boston picked up a short-handed tally when a hard forecheck by forward Taylor Girard created a chance for Megan Keller to slide the puck cross-crease to a waiting Hannah Brandt, who redirected the puck in for her second goal of the season.
After Spooner’s empty netter, Girard made things interesting with under 90 seconds to go when she fired a shot over the glove of Campbell, bringing Boston back within two, but the home team ran out of time as Toronto hung on to win 5-3.
