Julia Gosling kept her first PWHL strength goal for the postseason.
The rookie scored twice in his playoff debut when the Toronto Sceptres defeated the Minnesota Frost 3-2 on Wednesday in game 1 of his best semifinal series. The four goals of the regular Gosling season arrived at the power game.
“It was really exciting and it is my first 5th goal against 5,” Gosling said with a smile. “Just the way we were playing and the way our lines were changing, I think it put me in a great place to have that opportunity and then use my shot.
“So it was very fun to do it at home.”
Look | Gosling Pots a couple, the CEBS cling to frost edge:
Toronto defeats Minnesota 3-2 in game 1 of his pwhl semifinal series. Julia Gosling leads the way with two goals.
Captain Blayre Turnbull also scored for Toronto. Kristen Campbell made 24 salvadments.
“I think the greatest conclusion for us is that if you play in the right way, they are likely to reward you,” said Sceptres chief coach Troy Ryan. “I thought we played the defensive, physically responsible and a timely offensive too.”
Britta Curl-Salemme and Katy Knoll found the background of the network for Minnesota. Nicole Hensley stopped 34 shots.
“We knew they were going to go out with a lot of energy and play hard,” said Minnesota chief coach Ken Klee. “And obviously, detecting a 3-0 advantage is a difficult place to be.
The two teams gathered in the semifinal last season, with Minnesota arriving at the top in five games on the way to win the Walter Cup. The Frost won the 2024-25 series of the regular season 2-2-1-1, with three of the competitions in extra time or a shooting.
Turnbull opened the scoring at 11:59 of the first period of Wednesday. She got Jesse Compher’s album for the side boards, led to the front and moved to move through Hensley and put it.
“I think we just appeared tonight and we were ready to play,” Turnbull said. “We played a really good game in the first period. I thought we really set the tone. Each line felt they were clicking and rolling, and I thought that we defensively played very well too.
“So I think it was probably the best first period we had throughout the season.”
Look | Curl-Salemme de Frost expelled for the shot in the head in the fast of Sceptres:
Minnesota’s eaves, Britta Curl-Salemme, received an important five-minute penalty and misconduct of the game for a blow to the head against Toronto Renata Fast defender during game 1 of his semifinal series.
Gosling padded the leadership of the Sceptres 7:47 in the second. She intercepted the Mellissa Cannell-Watkins pass on the blue line and blocks her initial shot before firing a Wrister from the slot beyond Hensley in the rebound.
In the power game, Gosling pushed Grace Zumwinkle’s album inside the Minnesota area for Hannah Miller to collect it. Miller then turned around and found Gosling for a Wrister from just above the left confrontation circle at 9:42.
Knoll cut Toronto’s advantage in a single 2:33 goal in the third period. He bounced a shot by Klára Hymlárová in Campbell passing to silence the crowd.
In the last 90 seconds of the game, the frost pressed after spending a lot of time trying to stop Toronto’s aggressive offensive impulse. The Sceptres blocked most of the shots that Campbell would have faced, along with a key in recent seconds.
Ryan said he liked the way his team handled the changes in impulse of the game.
Look | Open Sceptres series in search of revenge against Frost:
The Toronto Sceptres begin their rematch of PWHL Playoffs semifinals against the defense of the Walter Minnesota Frost Cup champions on Wednesday night. It is an opportunity for redemption after being knocked out by Minnesota last year.
“Instead that everyone feels it and get tense because they are feeling it individually, we only talk about it,” said the coach. “Then, at the bank, we will simply mention it and talk about it. We cannot let a goal or a bad penalty … something like that, you cannot let yourself sink.”
With the remaining 5:23 on the clock, Curl-Salemme received misconduct from the game for hitting Toronto de Toronto Defensor Renata Fast in the head. Fast, who was also at the wrong end of a shipment call against Zumwinkle in the opening box, did not get out of the game and got into his own power.
“I thought it was a quite ugly success and I think the referees made the right call,” Turnbull said.
