Curl-Salemme’s Late Goals Lift Frost to Overtime Victory in Finals

OTTAWA, Ontario — Britta Curl-Salemme scored a dramatic late goal to tie the game and followed it up with the overtime winner, leading the Minnesota Frost to a 2-1 victory over the Ottawa Charge on Thursday night in the PWHL Finals.

The game, held at TD Place, was tightly contested throughout, with no score until Ottawa’s Jocelyne Larocque broke the deadlock at 17:25 of the third period. With only 16 seconds left on the clock and the Frost playing with an extra attacker, Curl-Salemme found the net off a rebound during a power play, equalizing the score.

In overtime, Curl-Salemme struck again, scoring at 16:24. The victory evened the best-of-five championship series at one game apiece, with Game 3 scheduled for Saturday in St. Paul, Minnesota.

The Frost’s goalie Maddie Rooney was instrumental in the win, stopping 37 of 38 shots, while Ottawa’s Gwyneth Philips made 22 saves. Despite having more shots earlier in the game, Ottawa couldn’t secure the lead as the Frost rallied late.

Frost head coach Ken Klee praised Curl-Salemme’s performance, noting, “She’s an outstanding player, outstanding person, outstanding teammate. No one’s happier for her than our entire team.”

In contrast, Ottawa’s captain Brianne Jenner expressed disappointment in the late-game loss but recognized the improvement in their play, stating, “We got back to our style tonight. We know it’s going to be a hard-fought series.”

Game 3 of the finals will be played on Saturday at 5 p.m. ET at Xcel Energy Center.