TORONTO (March 9, 2025) – The Minnesota Frost found the game-winner in overtime off the stick of captain Kendall Coyne Schofield to secure a 2-1 victory over the Toronto Sceptres at a sold-out Coca-Cola Coliseum on Sunday afternoon. Just over five minutes into the first period, Brooke McQuigge opened the scoring for Minnesota to give her team the lead heading into the first intermission. In front of a roaring home crowd of 8,510 fans, Renata Fast knotted the score just a minute into the second frame. The score remained tied 1-1 through a scoreless third period, sending the game into extra time.
During a back-and-forth overtime period which saw teams battling for the game-winner, Coyne Schofield buried her own rebound to lead the Frost to their fifth win beyond regulation this season. Nicole Hensley earned her fourth win of the campaign for Minnesota stopping 14 of 15 shots, while Kristen Campbell turned aside 27 of 29 shots in her 15th start of the season. With the win, Minnesota joins Boston in a tie for third place at 33 points each, just one point behind second-place Toronto, who earned a single point in the overtime loss.
QUOTES
Frost Head Coach Ken Klee: “It was a good hockey game. It felt like a playoff game –– to me it felt like the games we played last year that were so tight. Everyone can beat everyone on a given night, if you’re not sharp and paying attention to details you’re probably going to end up on the wrong end. It’s the parity of the league which makes it really fun and every night you better bring it or else you’re going to end up on the wrong side.”
Frost goaltender Nicole Hensley: “Obviously when you’re not getting a ton of work early you just have to stay in it mentally. They had a two-on-one that was kind of an awkward save, but I was fortunate to make it and got into the game from there. When we’re moving our feet like that, we are a really easy team to play behind and picking up people in the D-zone and it’s a lot of fun to play with our group.”
Sceptres goaltender Kristen Campbell: “The last handful or so of games I felt like I’ve been playing my game – keeping it simple, and I want to give the team a chance to win every time I’m in the net. Going to take what went well today, and maybe what didn’t go so well, and build on that for the next opportunity.”
Toronto Head Coach Troy Ryan: “I think we have to do a little bit of soul searching. You’ve got to reflect on a performance like that at this point in the season you’ve got to ask some questions why. It’s also important not to dive too deep into it and you hope it’s a bit of an outlier, but it’s definitely something we’ve got to find a way to deal with it as you can’t have something like that surfacing this close to playoff time.”
NOTABLES
Kendall Coyne Schofield scored her 10th goal of the season and her second straight game-winning goal after netting the opening goal in Minnesota’s 5-0 win over Ottawa on Friday night. The Frost captain sits tied for third in the league scoring race with 21 points (10G, 11A) in 23 games.
Coyne Schofield’s overtime-winner was the first of her PWHL career.
Nicole Hensley picked up her fourth win of the season and her first victory since Jan. 26 against Boston. The game also marks the first time this season the goaltender has allowed fewer than two goals against in a start.
Toronto’s home winning streak is snapped at five games. Today was their first loss at Coca Cola Coliseum since Dec. 31, 2024, against Ottawa.
Kristen Campbell has allowed two or fewer goals in six straight starts, the longest such streak of her career, picking up four wins during this stretch.
Brooke McQuigge scored her seventh goal of the season and has goals in back-to-back games for the second time in her career. She sits second among rookies in goals this season and leads all active players with a 25% shooting percentage (minimum eight shots).
Renata Fast scored her fifth goal for her 20th point of the season and has points in back-to-back games after collecting a pair of assists in Toronto’s 4-1 win over Montréal on Thursday. The Sceptres defender leads all blue liners in scoring (5G, 15A) through 23 games.
Fast also played a season-high 29:10 in today’s game while recording a season-high six hits.
Daryl Watts recorded her 15th assist of the season and pulls into a tie for third in league scoring with 21 points (6G, 15A) through 23 games. The Sceptres forward also has three assists in her last two games, after picking up two helpers against Montréal.
With 15 assists apiece through 23 games, Fast and Watts have both tied the single-season assist record set by Alex Carpenter (NY) and Emma Maltais (TOR), who each tallied 15 helpers through 24 games in the inaugural season.
Julia Gosling recorded an assist for the second straight game and has climbed into fifth in rookie scoring with 10 points (4G, 6A) in 23 games. Seven of her 10 points have been tallied in nine games since Feb. 1.
Claire Thompson tallied her 13th assist of the season and sits tied for second among league blue liners in scoring with 16 points (3G, 13A), alongside teammate Sophie Jaques (4G, 12A).
Britta Curl-Salemme recorded her fifth assist of the season and now sits tied for third among rookies in scoring with 11 points (6G, 5A) through 22 games.
Lee Stecklein tallied her fifth assist of the season and third in the last six games.
Coyne Schofield led all skaters with five shots on goal, tying her season high, which she has accomplished four times this campaign.
With four shots in the game, leading all Toronto skaters, Watts now sits first overall in the category with 79 through 23 games played.
Minnesota netted the opening goal for the 14th time this season, the most in the league, earning wins in nine of those games. Meanwhile, the Sceptres have conceded the first goal a league-high 14 times, resulting in 11 losses.
The Sceptres are now just 2-5 in games that have gone past regulation this season.
The Frost have competed in a league-high nine games beyond regulation this season, tied with Boston. Both teams have picked up five wins and four losses in extra time.
Toronto’s 15 shots on goal is their lowest mark in team history. Their previous low was 18, in a 4-2 win against Ottawa on Feb. 1.
SCORESHEET RECAP
Minnesota 1 0 0 1 - 2
Toronto 0 1 0 0 - 1
1st Period-1, Minnesota, McQuigge 7 (Thompson), 5:26. Penalties-Gosling Tor (tripping), 19:16.
2nd Period-2, Toronto, Fast 5 (Watts, Gosling), 18:55. Penalties-Carter Tor (interference), 5:49; Jaques Min (interference), 8:52; Curl-Salemme Min (elbowing), 12:06.
3rd Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Maltais Tor (hooking), 3:06; Watts Tor (illegal body checking), 6:42; Curl-Salemme Min (holding), 7:50; Watts Tor (tripping), 12:16.
1st OT Period-3, Minnesota, Coyne Schofield 10 (Curl-Salemme, Stecklein), 2:39. Penalties-No Penalties
Shots on Goal-Minnesota 11-5-9-4-29. Toronto 2-8-5-0-15.
Power Play Opportunities-Minnesota 0 / 5; Toronto 0 / 3.
Goalies-Minnesota, Hensley 4-2-1-0 (15 shots-14 saves). Toronto, Campbell 6-6-2-1 (29 shots-27 saves).
A-8,510
THREE STARS
1. Kendall Coyne Schofield (MIN) OTW
2. Brooke McQuigge (MIN) 1G
3. Renata Fast (TOR) 1G
STANDINGS
Toronto (9-2-5-7) - 36 PTS – 2nd Place
Minnesota (7-5-4-7) - 35 PTS – 3rd Place (Tied)
UPCOMING SCHEDULES
Minnesota: Tuesday, March 11 at Ottawa at 7 p.m. ET
Toronto: Wednesday, March 19 vs New York at 7 p.m. ET