Cheeky Šapovalivová Sinks League Leading Luleå

Teen phenom Adela Šapovalivová who will play NCAA hockey for Wisconsin, scored twice, while keeper Andrea Brändli fueled PWHL rumors in MoDo victory.

Adéla Šapovalivová is a gamer. The 18-year-old Czech forward put on a show on Wednesday evening in Örnsköldsvik, to help third place MoDo defeat reigning champions Luleå. Šapovalivová, who committed to the University of Wisconsin in 2023, opened the scoring by battling through traffic to bury her own rebound halfway through the first period. On the other end of the ice, MoDo goaltender Andrea Brändli made a series of big saves to keep Luleå off the scoresheet.

Speculation about Brändli’s future, and the possibility that she will declare for the 2025 PWHL draft, has been reaching a crescendo of late, and for good reason. The Swiss netminder is 18-8-0, with three shutouts, a 1.52 GAA and a stunning .945 save percentage this season for MoDo. Brändli stoned league-leading scorer Petra Nieminen on an early 2-on-1 before denying imposing import winger Savannah Norcross on a pair of rebounds. The goalie’s heroics gave her teammates the time they needed to get on the scoreboard. Deep in the offensive zone, Lauren Bellefontaine quite simply outworked Luleå’s defenders before firing a pass to Šapovalivová in the slot. The Czech’s initial shot was denied, but despite being surrounded by opposing players, found her own rebound and fired it home. 1-0 MoDo. Late in the first period, Šapovalivová doubled the lead when she took advantage of a rare Camryn Wong misstep, stole the puck and scored on the ensuing breakaway. MoDo increased the lead to 3-0 in the second when Alexie Guay danced across the blue line before passing to Sanna Halsius who wristed a shot through traffic and past a helpless Sara Grahn.

Luleå pulled out all the stops in the third, firing 20 shots on Brändli and allowing zero shots against Grahn, but it was all for naught, and MoDo won 3-1.