Fleet season ends in Ottawa, as Charge’s Michela Cava scores double-OT winner to eliminate Boston in PWHL semifinals

OTTAWA — The Boston Fleet’s stunning season came to a shocking end Sunday night in Ottawa.

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After finishing the regular season in second place with a record 62 points, Boston lost three straight games in its semifinal series against Ottawa, culminating in a 4-3, double-overtime loss on Sunday in front of an announced 11,297 at Ottawa’s Canadian Tire Centre.

Michaela Cava scored her first playoff goal 1:12 into the second overtime period, despite Boston outshooting the Charge, 46-33.

The Fleet never lost more than two games in a row during the regular season. 

For the fourth straight game, Ottawa jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first period. With Daniela Pejsova in the box for boarding, Fanuza Kadirova fired a one-timer from the point that beat Frankel low on her glove side. Sarah Wozniewicz, who was stationed outside the crease, was credited with the goal.

The Fleet’s penalty kill, consistently one of the best in the league during the regular season, had previously conceded just one goal during this series — Ottawa’s opening tally in Game 1, a 2-1 win for Boston. 

As they had in the first three games of the series, the Fleet controlled the play in the first period and outshot the Charge, 15-8, but continued to run into a wall in the shape of Gwyneth Philips. Boston held a 96-61 series edge in shots entering Sunday’s game, and the ex-Northeastern goaltender was the difference in Ottawa’s Game 2 and 3 wins. 

But unlike in previous games, the Fleet had just a handful of chances from around the crease in the first period as Ottawa boxed out hard to keep Philips’s eyeline clear and prevent Boston from jumping on any rebounds. 

The second period, however, was a different story. 

After Rebecca Leslie doubled the Charge’s lead 3:25 in, Shay Maloney got one back for the Fleet at 5:19 and set off a string of three Fleet goals in the span of 93 seconds to give Boston its first lead. Two of the three came on second-chance opportunities. 

Off an offensive zone faceoff win, Haley Winn carried the puck in on Philips, and Maloney crashed the net to slot home the rebound for her first playoff goal. 

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Megan Keller netted the equalizer at the six-minute mark with a one-timer from the circle on the power play — her signature move early in the regular season, but one teams adapted to and largely shut down in recent months. It was the Fleet’s first power play goal of the playoffs, having gone scoreless on their previous 12 attempts. 

Fifty-two seconds after Keller’s goal, Sophie Shirley cleaned up another rebound for her first goal of these playoffs to give Boston a 3-2 lead. 

But the Charge had one more second-period goal in them, as Brooke Hobson’s rebound tally tied the game at three apiece at 12:12. 

The third period was more of a defensive chess match, as both teams struggled to generate chances on offense. 

After putting up 31 shots through two periods, the Fleet managed just six in the third despite two power-play opportunities, and as was the case four times between these teams during the regular season, the game headed to overtime.

One overtime then became two, with Alina Müller unable to bury a wraparound chance early in the 20-minute session, and the power play coming up empty again in the latter half.

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Shots were 46-30 in favor of the Fleet heading into the second overtime.