Ottawa Charge advance to Professional Women’s Hockey League final with 2-1 win over Montreal Victoire

Ottawa Charge's Rebecca Leslie (37) scores on Montreal Victoire goaltender Ann-Renee Desbiens (35) during first period PWHL playoff hockey action in Ottawa, on Friday, May 16, 2025. (pencer Colby/The Canadian Press)

OTTAWA — The Ottawa Charge are going to the Walter Cup final to play for the Professional Women's Hockey League championship.

Emily Clark’s third-period goal proved to be the winner as Ottawa edged the Montreal Victoire 2-1 on Friday. The Charge won the best-of-five semifinal series 3-1.

Ottawa, the third seed, will now face the defending champion Minnesota Frost, who defeated the Toronto Sceptres in the other semifinal. The final begins Tuesday in the nation's capital.

“Obviously, it’s just one step in this journey that we have of trying to win a Walter Cup but it was an important step, and it was a special step,” said Charge head coach Carla Macleod.

The Victoire came into the series as the No. 1 seed but struggled to generate offence when it counted most. Montreal was outscored 9-6 through the series.

A devastated Marie-Philip Poulin struggled to find the words for why her team has been unable to find playoff success. The Victoire were swept by the Frost in last year’s semifinal.

“This one hurts,” said Poulin. “I think we had a deep enough team but unfortunately, once again, we can’t get past the first round. It hurts.

"I think we’re going to need to look in the mirror and see what we can do differently, how we can change and how we can get better."

Goaltending was key through the series and ultimately rookie Gwyneth Philips, who made 19 saves, was better than Ann-Renee Desbiens.

Ottawa native Rebecca Leslie opened the scoring at the two-minute mark of the first to give Ottawa the lead. Leslie scored her first of the playoffs off an Anna Meixner rebound that Desbiens, who stopped 20 shots, had no chance on.

“I grew up a 67’s season seat member, so I’ve been to a lot of games in this arena, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many fans or it be so loud,” admitted Leslie. “So, it’s truly special.”

Montreal generated chances on the power play in the second period but just couldn’t beat Philips.

“I think the whole series has been a battle of the goaltenders,” said Montreal coach Kori Cheverie. “And, you know, obviously we made a really good push until the end there, and we just couldn’t seem to find a way to get that little black rubber thing across the line. Just couldn’t score.”

Ottawa extended its lead 31 seconds into the third period when Clark made a great move to get around Poulin and drove to the net where she sent a shot to the top corner.

Montreal challenged the goal, saying there was a hand pass on the play, but it stood and the Victoire were assessed a penalty for the failed challenge.

Montreal cut the lead in half with 5:02 remaining in regulation when Maureen Murphy drove to the net and beat Philips short side.

“That one hurts because she’s like my best friend,” said Philips.

Despite the push from Montreal, Philips and her teammates said there was no panic from the team.

“They have an amazing team that gave a big push,” said Clark. “So for us to hold to that lead and do what we had to do to get the win just adds to our confidence.”

Montreal pulled Desbiens with two minutes remaining in regulation and was unable to get a shot through on Philips with Ottawa fully committed to doing whatever it took to hold on.

With the crowd on its feet and cheering on the Charge, Montreal had one last chance with 6.8 seconds remaining but came up short.

“It felt longer than 6.8 seconds,” said Clark with a laugh. “I mean we talk all the time about how special it is to play for Ottawa, and play in front of this community, and the last two games, you just get chills.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 3, 2025.

Lisa Wallace, The Canadian Press