OTTAWA — Kendall Coyne Schofield’s hat trick lifted the Minnesota Frost to a dominant 5-1 win over the Ottawa Charge in Professional Women’s Hockey League action on Tuesday.
It was the first time the two teams met since Minnesota defeated Ottawa in four games to clinch its second consecutive Walter Cup title in May.
The home crowd at TD Place Arena turned the stands pink to support Ottawa head coach Carla MacLeod, who announced her breast cancer diagnosis on Saturday. Despite her absence, MacLeod still earned a rousing standing ovation from the Ottawa faithful.
Dominique Petrie and Grace Zumwinkle also scored for Minnesota (2-0-0-1), which has now won two straight since losing its season opener to Toronto. Nicole Hensley made 35 saves.
Rookie Rory Guilday had the lone goal for Ottawa (1-0-0-2), while Gwyneth Philips stopped 28-of-32 shots.
Ottawa’s shaky start made it easy prey for Minnesota’s aggressive playbook, where the reigning champs dispatched their hard-nosed forecheck to build an early 3-0 lead through the first seven minutes.
Kelly Pannek muscled possession out of a puck battle along the boards to feed captain Coyne Schofield who scored just 24 seconds into the game. Just over three minutes later, Petrie tucked in a rebound off a Denisa Krizova shot.
By the seven-minute mark, Zumwinkle sniped one past Philips to make it 3-0.
After a scoreless second period, Coyne Schofield stepped around blueliner Stephanie Markowski lifting her second goal of the night over Philips’ shoulder at 4:14 of the third. Guilday put the Charge on the board with her first PWHL goal on the power play at 5:59, but Coyne Schofield sealed it with an empty-netter with 1:29 left.
Takeaways
Charge: The team has been outscored 9-1 across its two losses, including its 4-0 loss to New York on Nov. 22.
Frost: Minnesota has outscored its opponents 9-3 across its three games.
Key Moment
After her linemates out-muscled the Charge defence along the boards, Coyne Schofield opened the scoring just 24 seconds into the game.
Key Stat
Coyne Schofield leads the PWHL in goals with four thanks to her first career hat trick in regular season or playoff action.
Up next
Charge: On the road against the Toronto Sceptres on Thursday.
Frost: On the road against the Boston Fleet on Sunday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 2, 2025.
Abdulhamid Ibrahim, The Canadian Press
