On a Friday night at the American Dream Mall, the Metropolitan Riveters defeated the Buffalo Beauts 5-2 in their second-to-last game of their regular season.
The Riveters came into tonight riding a two-game winning streak after winning back-to-back games against the Montreal Force last weekend. In tonight's game, the Riveters celebrated Pride Weekend by wearing rainbow-themed uniforms. Both teams came into tonight's game outside of playoff spots but would show that they still wanted to finish the season strong.
Buffalo Strikes First
Both teams scored in the first period and the Buffalo Beauts got on the board first. Courtney Maud snapped a shot under the arm of Riveters goalie, Katie Burt at 9:04 on assists by Mykila Grant-Mewis and Summer-Rae Dobson.
However less than three minutes later, the Riveters answered back when veteran defenseman, Mintu Tuominen scored on a big one-time shot from point to tie the game at one.
The visitors would take the lead again in the second period when their leading scorer, Grant-Mentis stole the puck from a Riveters defenseman inside the offensive zone and sniped a snap-shot over Katie Burt's shoulder to give Buffalo their second lead of the game.
About halfway through the second, Rivs defenseman Ebba Berglund took a high-sticking penalty at 9:05 but her teammates picked her up on the penalty kill. Veteran Riveters forward, Kelly Babstock scored a pivotal, shorthanded goal that tied the game up at two and was second time the Riveters battled back to tie the game.
The game continued as a more physical, defensive battle until the Riveters went ahead. Madison Packer scored at 17:42 to put the Riveters in the lead for the first time of the game. Her goal was assisted by her linemate, Sarah Bujold, who was first star of the game.
It was all Riveters from there, because in the third period, the Riveters added two more goals off the sticks of forwards, Amanda Pelkey and Fanni Garat-Gasparics and the Riveters went on to win by a score of 5-2.
Riveters React to Big Victory
Despite trailing at two points in this game, the Riveters showed resilience by battling back. Another reason the Riveters won was scoring depth, as no fewer than five different players scored a goal for the home team.
During the second intermission, Packer discussed scoring the go-ahead goal in the second period.
A good play by the whole line, our defense kept the puck in [the offensive zone] Sarah made a great play behind the net, it's fun to play hockey like that and get everybody on my line involved. It was a great play down low by my linemates and I was able to put it in.
Hayley Lunny had three shots-on-goal for the Rivs tonight and while she didn't find the scoresheet, she contributed to a win that involved every Riveters player. Lunny described how the first period went.
It was back and forth, chippy at times, but once Babs [Babstock] got that shorthanded goal, we settled in and we were like alright, we're going to really step up. That goal was huge, that was our turning point.
The leadership of any hockey team begins with its coaching staff. Head coach Venla Hovi described what she liked about her team's performance on Friday night.
What I really like about our team is, no matter how the game's going, we don't lose hope, we just keep going and I feel like we have that thought in our minds that if we keep playing to the best of our abilities, we're the better team and that ended up happening tonight.
The Riveters will conclude their regular season tomorrow afternoon at 2:00 pm against Buffalo. After the game, fans will have the opportunity to go on a public skate on the Dream Mall rink with the players, which should be a fun experience for the entire family.
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