TORONTO (Jan 25, 2025) – The Toronto Sceptres soared to a 4-2 victory over the New York Sirens in front of a sold-out home crowd of 19,102 at Scotiabank Arena on Saturday afternoon, winning the Battle on Bay Street presented by Scotiabank for the second straight year. The Sceptres opened the scoring with a goal from Hannah Miller–– her first of two in the game–– to ignite the packed arena and give her team the lead heading into the first intermission. Ella Shelton evened the score on the power play halfway through the second period, but Miller struck again with just over a minute remaining in the second frame to give the Sceptres their second lead of the game going into the final period. Miller now has sole possession of the league lead in scoring, with six goals on the season. With just a minute gone in the third period, Abby Roque evened the score once again for New York to tie the game at two. With under six minutes remaining in the third period, Sarah Nurse regained the lead for Toronto on the power play for her first tally in seven games. The Sceptres secured the win in front of a roaring crowd with an empty-net goal from Kali Flanagan. Raygan Kirk earned her second win of the season in net for Toronto, turning aside 17 of 19 shots. Corinne Schroeder made 31 saves on 34 shots between the pipes for New York – the second-highest shot tally she’s faced this season.
QUOTES
Toronto forward Sarah Nurse on ending her goal drought: “It was kind of a long time coming, a couple of posts, a couple of missed opportunities–– so, definitely frustrating, but I had a lot of support from [my teammates], especially on the bench today so it was huge. It was a really big power play goal, which was good for our momentum and our PP group.”
Sceptres Head Coach Troy Ryan on what’s been working for Hannah Miller this season: “All kinds. Plays the game the right way, is responsible defensively, scores a lot of goals, whether power play or transition. I was very happy for her. I think one thing that’s been really cool with her this year is she’s played right wing, left wing, centre, and seems to not really miss a beat wherever we put her. She deserves a lot of credit even just dealing with the emotions that come with that.”
Sirens Defender Jaime Bourbonnais on playing in her hometown: “I think result aside, that game was so special to play on that ice. Even just looking down at the ice and seeing the Maple Leafs logo in the middle, that was pretty cool. I grew up cheering for a lot of Leafs games, and I still cheer for them. It was pretty surreal to play and even though the crowd wasn’t cheering for us, it was pretty electric. I am just proud of myself, and I played for little Jaime out there today.”
Sirens Head Coach Greg Fargo: “There’s a lot to learn from tonight—I think we’ll look at what we did, and we must find ways to establish our game a little bit more. We saw it in moments where we need to be more heavy and hard, while being willing to get pucks in and out at times so that we can play our game. We didn’t see enough of it tonight. But, going into Monday, Ottawa is a team much like Toronto where they come at you with a lot of speed and they themselves play a heavy game. So, we have to be willing to match and exceed the effort for a complete 60 minutes.”
NOTABLES
The Sceptres scored the opening goal for the first time in six games, with the last instance coming on Dec. 27 in a 4-2 win over Boston. Toronto has recorded at least a point in all three games in which they have hit the score sheet first this season (2-0-1-0).
Hannah Miller scored her fifth and sixth goals of the season to take sole possession of the league lead in goals and the team lead in points with nine. The Sceptres forward now has three multi-point games this season, two of which have come against New York– on Dec. 18, Miller tallied 1G, 1A in a 4-2 loss against the Sirens.
Miller and teammate Jesse Compher are the only two players to record points in both Battle on Bay Street games. Compher scored the game-winning goal and Miller got the insurance marker in last year’s game, a 3-0 win over Montréal.
Compher tallied her fourth helper of the season, matching her season total from last year. The Sceptres forward has now recorded assists in back-to-back games.
Sarah Nurse netted her fourth goal of the season for the Sceptres – her first goal in seven games. She now sits tied for second among Toronto players in points with eight (4G, 4A).
Nurse put a game-high seven shots on net in the game – the most she’s recorded in a single game this season, and tying her PWHL career record.
Raygan Kirk picked up her second win of the season in net for the Sceptres while making her first PWHL start outside of the Coca Cola Coliseum.
Corinne Schroeder stopped 31 shots in net for the Sirens –– the most she has faced in a game that has not needed extra time so far this year.
Sarah Fillier recorded her seventh assist of the season, which puts her in sole possession of the league lead in points with 12. Hailing from Georgetown ON, today’s game was the Sirens rookie’s first PWHL game in her home province.
Alex Carpenter’s helper was her sixth of the season –– she is now tied for second in points in the PWHL with 11.
Kali Flanagan recorded her first multi-point game of the season and second of her PWHL career, with an empty-net goal and an assist in the game. The Sceptres defender has recorded assists in back-to-back games and has matched her assist total through 24 games last season (3).
Toronto has outshot their opponents in seven consecutive games while picking up three wins within this stretch. The Sceptres lead the league with an average of 31.25 shots per game this season.
New York’s 19 shots on goal is their lowest total this season.
Ella Shelton scored her second goal –– and first power play marker –– of the season and becomes the first visiting player to find the back of the net in a Battle on Bay Street game. Shelton now sits tied for second among Sirens defenders in points with four (2G, 2A).
Shelton becomes the third Sirens defender to score a power play goal this season –– no other PWHL team has more than one blue liner with a power play goal. Toronto is the only team without a power play goal from a defender.
Abby Roque scored her third goal of the season for the Sirens and now has points in back-to-back games.
Toronto netted their first power play goal since Jan. 8 against Montréal. They had gone their previous three contests without a PP marker, going 0/10 during that stretch.
The Sirens netted their first power play goal in four games –– their last power-play markers came against Minnesota, when they scored back-to-back goals on the advantage on Jan. 4 in a 5-0 road victory over the Frost.
Gabby Rosenthal is tied for the league lead with a plus-7 rating and also leads all rookies in the category.
Megan Carter made her PWHL debut for the Sceptres and played 14:07 in front of her home-province crowd. The rookie defender from Milton, ON, was activated off the LTIR earlier today.
Jessie Eldridge recorded her third assist of the season –– the Sirens forward has been on the score sheet in all three matchups against Toronto this season. She has matched her assist tally from last season, and with 10 points this campaign, now sits third among Sirens players and tied for fifth in the PWHL in points (3G, 7A).
Maja Nylen Persson recorded her third assist of the season and is now tied for second among Sirens rookies in points with four (1G, 3A).
Taylor Girard made her debut in a Sirens jersey after being acquired in a trade from Boston on Tuesday. The forward recorded 9:06 time on ice in today’s game.
SCORESHEET RECAP
New York 0 1 1 - 2
Toronto 1 1 2 - 4
1st Period-1, Toronto, Miller 5 (Flanagan, Gosling), 18:34. Penalties-Downie-Landry Ny (interference), 6:25; Nurse Tor (cross checking), 11:30; Simpson Ny (delay of game), 15:37.
2nd Period-2, New York, Shelton 2 (Carpenter, Fillier), 10:31 (PP). 3, Toronto, Miller 6 18:47. Penalties-Carter Tor (cross checking), 9:09.
3rd Period-4, New York, Roque 3 (Eldridge, Nylen Persson), 1:01. 5, Toronto, Nurse 4 (Watts, Compher), 14:06 (PP). 6, Toronto, Flanagan 2 18:21 (EN). Penalties-Turnbull Tor (tripping), 4:05; served by Eldridge Ny (too many players), 5:01; Bourbonnais Ny (tripping), 13:56.
Shots on Goal-New York 6-4-9-19. Toronto 13-15-7-35.
Power Play Opportunities-New York 1 / 3; Toronto 1 / 4.
Goalies-New York, Schroeder 6-3-0-0 (34 shots-31 saves). Toronto, Kirk 2-1-1-0 (19 shots-17 saves).
Attendance: 19,102 (sell-out)
THREE STARS
Hannah Miller (TOR) 2G
Sarah Nurse (TOR) 1G
Corinne Schroeder (NY) 31/34 SV
STANDINGS
New York (3-3-1-4) – 16 PTS – 4th Place
Toronto (4-0-2-6) – 14 PTS – 6th Place
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
New York: Monday, January 27 at Ottawa at 7:00 p.m. ET
Toronto: Tuesday, January 28 at Minnesota at 6:00 p.m. CT