Penalties Stop Any Torrent Momentum In Loss To The Fleet

The Seattle Torrent came out strong in the January 7 game against the Boston Fleet. It seemed like that might set the tone for the game, but that wasn’t meant to be. Penalties stacked up, immediately stopping any momentum the Torrent managed to muster against the top team in the league.

Seattle’s first shift was electric, rewarding them with the first two shots on goal of the game. When Hannah Bilka took an interference penalty at 5:12 into the first, that electricity was completely zapped from the Torrent. From that point, the Fleet took over and controlled the ice.

The Torrent had another fantastic shift at the end of the first but couldn’t make anything of it. The one thing in common with both the first and last shifts in the first was the line. The Julia Gosling, Alex Carpenter, and Hilary Knight line was solid throughout the game and tried to get something started before intermission that could carry through to the second.

However, the second period was stagnant for Seattle. They only registered two shots on goal through the entire middle frame. The last shot on goal for the second was at 9:37 and the Torrent wouldn’t get another shot until 7:14 into the third. That’s 17:37 without a shot on goal.

A large part of the problem was penalties for Seattle especially against a low penalty minute team such as Boston. Seattle took three penalties in the second which stalled any progress they had made. With the penalties coming at 10:37, 17:23, and 19:23 in the period, that left little time to regroup and get back to a five-on-five drive.

The Seattle penalty kill was successful in four out of the five attempts, but that one unsuccessful kill resulted in the game-winning goal from Boston just 18 seconds into the third.

The long-awaited shot on goal in the third that broke the 17-minute dry spell for the Torrent resulted in a goal from Hannah Bilka off a pass from Knight. Fleet goaltender, Aerin Frankel, stood tall all night, but Bilka wristed the puck to the far corner just up over Frankel. It was a much-needed goal for Seattle, but they took another penalty just a little over three minutes later stalling the team’s forward progress.

The Torrent got their first chance with a player advantage at 16:33, but the single shot on goal during the power play wasn’t enough to make a difference. Even with the cards stacked against them, Seattle never gave up, and that’s certainly a consistent aspect to the identity they’re building. With goalie, Corinne Schroeder, pulled at 18:47 the Torrent gave a final push that resulted in some solid chances. Boston couldn’t clear the puck out of their own zone, but Seattle wasn’t able to get another one past Frankel.

Despite the penalties, the Torrent’s big pushes helped the shot count come a little closer with the final being 15 for Seattle and 23 for Boston. Schroeder kept her team in the game, saving 21 of 23 and staying calm during the extended times the Fleet were in the Torrent’s zone.

“For me, it was another measuring stick,” said Seattle Head Coach Steve O’Rourke post-game. “I think we closed that gap with them a bit more. I thought we did a lot of nice things, penalties just kind of killed our momentum at times and we just couldn’t stay going there. But I thought we did a lot of good things. I’ll give them credit. We dragged a lot of shots to the net, and they blocked them off.”

Seattle has plenty to review and tweak from this loss. They also have a few great shifts to build upon before their next game on Sunday, January 11 against Minnesota.