Goldeneye’s First Road Trip

Vancouver’s newest pro hockey club the Goldeneyes were in tough on their first road trip of the season that saw them drop the game against the Ottawa Charge by a 5-1 margin all due to Brianne Jenner’s four-point performance which tied a PWHL single game record 

The first road trip was to the Nation’s Capital played at Ottawa’s TD Place that impressed the crowd with the team’s first goal of the season plus a PP marker as well as their first shorthanded goal in the empty cage as well as adding two assists. 

Ottawa’s five goals is the highest in the league through six games in a short four day as Vancouver was on their first-ever road trip, sadly leaving with their first-ever loss considering the impressive win over Seattle at the Coliseum. 

Ottawa jumped out to a 3-0 lead that saw Jenner get a first period goal, a second period marker plus a third period goal at 1:19 off the stick of Rebecca Leslie. 

Goldeneye’s Claire Thompson got the first goal of the season for the visitors on the board on the PP at 7:12 making it 3-1 only to have Ottawa’s Anna Meixner add to the lead making it 4-1 at 14:38. 

Ottawa’s Jenner got her second at 18:12 that saw a rookie and a “vet” each manage a pair of assists on the play.

Ottawa rookie defender Rory Guilday and veteran forward Gabbie Hughes both had two assists in a game that saw Gwyneth Philips manage 18 saves picking up her first win for the home squad. 

Vancouver’s Emerance Maschmeyer was forced to make 30 shots returning to Ottawa in a contest that saw Ottawa jump out to a face start from the opening puck drop. 

Vancouver continues their first ever road trip as they head south of the 49th playing at the Prudential Center in Newark sadly dropping the game by a 5-1 margin in an afternoon contest against the Sirens.

Kayle Osborne made 20 saves earning her second win of the early season in a contest that saw four Sirens rookies get on the scoresheet. 

This contest saw Nsiole Valerio open the scoring early in the contest five minutes in on Vancouver’s clearing pass taking an early 1-0 lead. 

Sarah Fillier collected her first goal of the season with Anne Cherkowski who finished with a pair of assists while Casey O’Brien earned their first point of the early season.

New York’s Paetyn Levis scored 55 seconds in the second about the midpoint of the period while Kristin O’Neill managed a shorthanded marker extending the lead to 4-0. 

Vancouver’s Sophie Jaques got Vancouver on the board at 5:23 making it 4-1 in the third, only to have Kristýna Kaltounková score her first career goal making it 5-1 pulling out the win.

Vancouver Kristen Campbell made her first start of the season between the pipes stopping 23 shots in a contest that saw the Goldeneyes drop their second straight road trip in the early season. 

Notable Comments: 

Sirens Head Coach Greg Fargo on putting pucks on net to execute their offense. “I thought we did a much better job tonight. In a lot of areas, but especially around their net. We haven’t been around the net in a long time, but now we know enough that if you want to score, that’s where you’ve got to go. 
I just think, in other words, those goals were just kind of creating some chaos in or around the blue paint tonight, I thought our players did a really nice job with that.” 

Rookie forward Casey O’Brien on playing at Prudential Center for the first time in front of home town fans told the media “I mean, the fans were awesome. 
I think I have a lot of family, a lot of friends here, too, so it’s always nice to play in front of them. You don’t always get that opportunity, but it was cool to see it just when Nicole [Vallario] scored her first goal. How they [the fans] erupted, and they kept the energy the whole game. So that definitely has an impact on us.” 

Vancouver’s Sophie Jaques on her goal and the team’s offense: “It was off the faceoff — there was a bit of scrum. 

The forwards did a good job to get the puck back, and I just took it to the middle and fired the puck. I think Miller gave a good flash screen on the goalie, so that took away her eyes. At times we were good at net front, but I also don’t think we were shooting the puck very much with a purpose. I think that comes with our line changes. We were just kind of trying to get pucks deep and didn’t really make a lot of great plays down low when we did have them beat. We did some of it in the game, but definitely there’s room for improvement.” 

Goldeneyes Head Coach Brian Idalski on developing the team’s identity and how he’s looking to see the team improve: “We’re still trying to establish identity because we can play a skill game, but we also can get pucks deep and be tough to play against down low, and so what you see is a mish-mash of the two. So, our identity is still being formed, but first and foremost we have to start with being more physical, winning one-on-one battles, and just a consistent compete, not the ebb and flow that we’re getting shift to shift.”

It’s interesting to note that the Sirens have won consecutive home openers that saw them grab their first regulation victory at Prudential Center dating back to last season’s opener.

Sadly Vancouver has given up five goals in their first two road games of the inaugural season in back-to-back games. 

In the stat column it’s notable to know that five of the Goldeneyes’ six goals this season were scored in the third period or in an O/T period with half by defenders. 

THREE STARS 

1. Anne Cherkowski (NY) 2A 

2. Kayle Osborne (NY) 20/21 SV 

3. Kristýna Kaltounková (NY) 1G