The Minnesota Frost are one win away from eliminating the Toronto Sceptres for the second straight season. Minnesota took game three of their best-of-five series 7-5 in front of a home crowd at the Xcel Energy Center.
Minnesota opened the scoring recording three goals in a 5:15 span in the first period. Liz Schepers kicked off the scoring followed by goals from Brooke McQuigge and Lee Stecklein.
While Toronto would eventually get their offense going, they couldn't stop the Frost.
“We came off a long trip – it's no secret – so we wanted to make sure we came out right and started the right way," said Schepers. "We got the crowd into it early and little did we know it was going to start off with all these goals, but it was definitely great to get off to a good start early."
Michela Cava scored twice, and McQuigge added her second of the game, while Sophie Jaques also scored for the Frost. Minnesota scored seven times on only 24 shots.
"I think it’s a fan’s dream and a coach's nightmare, a 7-5 playoff game," said Minnesota head coach Ken Klee. "We found a way to win and that’s the most important thing. Our team played hard, and we have to clean things up because the next game is going to be a lot tougher."
Must Win Situation For The Toronto Sceptres
Toronto got scoring from five different players - Daryl Watts, Kali Flanagan, Blayre Turnbull, Maggie Connors, and Anna Kjellbin. It should have been enough to win game three, but it wasn't.
Now, Toronto will enter a must-win game four.
"We went through this last year. There’s a good group of girls on our team who have some experience with [five-game series] and then it is obviously new for everyone else in the room, but I think just sticking together as a team," said Toronto defender Kali Flanagan. "Knowing that we have each other’s backs going into Game 4, it’s exciting. I don’t think anyone is going to be fearful of it, I think everyone is going to come to the rink on Wednesday and be excited for a great opportunity to win a hockey game.”