Jade Downie-Landry scored a hat trick and Corinne Schroeder made 32 saves for New York as they downed Boston in Lowell, MA.
Jade Downie-Landry scored a hat trick and Corinne Schroeder made 32 saves for New York as they downed Boston in Lowell, MA.
LOWELL, MA – Jade Downie-Landry knew she was due for a goal.
As a rookie in the PHF last season, she led the Montreal Force in scoring with 23 points in 24 games. Through 5 games so far with PWHL New York, the forward had 2 points, but remained scoreless heading into Saturday afternoon’s matchup versus PWHL Boston.
So, when a snipe from Downie-Landry got past Boston netminder Emma Soderberg, all she could do was let out a big sigh of relief.
“Honestly, I was just trying to get pucks on the net, I didn’t even see my shot release,” said Downie-Landry with a laugh. “I was just hoping for a rebound, hoping for something good to happen, and it just went into the back of the net.”
Despite Boston peppering New York goalkeeper Corinne Schroeder with countless shot attempts, the 24-year-old was excellent, stopping 32 Boston shots in a 4-1 win for New York, at the Tsongas Center on the campus of UMass Lowell.
“It was a really exciting atmosphere, to come into the thick of what you have here in the (United) States but particularly here in Boston, the vibe is intense, and it’s something that's palpable,” said New York coach Howie Draper. “This is our first time playing against them, but I’m sure we will see that rivalry grow over the coming games, it’s fun to be apart of.”
The contest marked the return of New York captain Micah Zandee-Hart, who has been out since last April with an injury.
Downie-Landry’s goal put New York in front just before the end of the first period, before Jessie Eldridge found the back of the net just 26 seconds into the second. A little under two minutes after Eldridge’s goal, Downie-Landry was able to score once again, putting New York up 3-0.
After Downie-Landry’s second goal, Boston coach Courtney Kessel decided it was time for a goalie change, as Aerin Frankel came into the game.
“I think we’ve had a slow start to a lot of our periods, and we need to start building momentum from the start of the puck drop,” said Kessel. “It’s something that needs to be a big focus for us.”
Boston was able to find multiple chances later on in the second period, but Schroeder held up.
Despite the three goal deficit, as the third opened up, it was clear that Boston was not going down without a fight.
Loren Gabel, coming off of a two goal night versus Toronto, was able to squeak a goal past Schroeder, but it was all Boston was able to find for the remainder of the contest.
After pulling Frankel, Downie-Landry was able to score her third and final goal on an empty netter, for the third hat trick in PWHL history.
“It’s obviously a good feeling, but I owe a lot to my teammates today,” said Downie-Landry. “We played a good, physical game, we knew Boston was a very fast and physical team, and I think it’s all about where we can go from here.”