ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Liz Schepers scored 12 minutes into overtime to lift the Minnesota Frost to a 2-1 victory over the Ottawa Charge on Monday night, securing their second consecutive PWHL Walter Cup title in Game 4 of the finals.
Every game in the best-of-five series ended 2-1 and required at least one overtime, with Game 3 reaching triple overtime—the longest in PWHL Finals history. In total, the series featured over 81 minutes of extra time. The Frost’s win came exactly one year after losing Game 4 in double overtime to Boston before claiming the inaugural Walter Cup on the road.
Schepers sealed this year’s championship after receiving a pass from Katy Knoll along the boards. Ottawa goaltender Gwyneth Philips stopped the initial shot, but Schepers buried the rebound to clinch the title.
Minnesota’s Maddie Rooney made 33 saves in the win.
The Frost opened the scoring midway through the second period when Claire Thompson pinched in from the blue line and found Kelly Pannek alone at the far post. Pannek fired high past Philips for her second goal of the playoffs—marking the first time in the series Ottawa trailed in regulation.
The Charge tied the game in the third period when Danielle Serdachny found Tereza Vanisova unmarked in front of the net. Vanisova, who led Ottawa in regular-season goals, notched her first point of the postseason with the equalizer.
Philips finished with 36 saves, capping an outstanding postseason in which she made 148 saves in overtime alone.
Both teams nearly ended the game earlier in the extra frame—Ottawa’s Aneta Tejralova hit the left post about five minutes into overtime, and Minnesota’s Taylor Heise rang a shot off the right post roughly four minutes later.
