Montreal Will Have to Wait to Lift the Walter Cup

The Ottawa Charge force a Game 4 at Canadian Tire Centre with a 2-1 win in front of a record-setting crowd.

When Kori Cheverie mentioned that the third game would be the hardest, she was far from wrong. The Charge played exactly like we expected them to in front of an almost sold-out Canadian Tire Centre crowd. The home team did not take their foot off the pedal once.

Although Montreal’s Hayley Scamurra gave the Victoire the lead in the third, their first lead of the series, the Charge did not seem phased at all. A bounce off the boards came in favour of the Victoire forward, the kind of goal you need to beat Gwyneth Philips. “I feel like it just went right to my stick. By the time I reacted, it was already there, and I was able to just put it in the net. The boards were in our favour on that one.”

Late Game Heroics (Again)

With 5:30 left in the final frame, Ottawa rookie Payton Hemp was able to tie the game up for her team. But what came after is what defines Ottawa. When they get that kind of momentum, they can be dangerous. For coach Carla MacLeod, this momentum stems from the belief this group has. “It’s just important to remind ourselves that we were still in it. And if we kept doing what we were doing, and continued to believe and be all in on us, that we were going to find a way.”

And in front of a packed Canadian Tire Centre, Rebecca Leslie scored the game-winning goal with under a minute to go. “I'm honestly at a loss for words. It's so special. It's such an honour to play for my hometown, to see a record-breaking crowd.” Leslie has been carrying this team on her back, with four of Ottawa’s five goals in the series coming from her. “Nothing kind of compares to how I felt in that moment. It was truly such an honour,” she said about the goal that kept her team’s season alive.

A Tight Series From Start To Finish

It would have been surprising to see a sweep in this series considering how tight both games had been, with neither team truly dominating the other. Heading into Game 4, Kori Cheverie does not feel like anything needs to change in terms of the game plan. “I like our game plan. I'm confident with this group and what we've done all year and throughout the playoffs that, you know, we'll go into Wednesday as confident as we have been, and as resilient as we have been.”

For the Charge coach, the reason behind such a tight series comes from the parity this league has shown since its beginning. “It is so fun because you know you're going to have to manage things at the end of the game because it's going to be close. Certainly in the playoffs, it gets even that much tighter because players are just playing with their hearts on their sleeve. My hair’s maybe a little bit greyer than other days, but in the same breath, I wouldn’t trade it.”

Game 4 will be played Wednesday in Ottawa, where Montreal will once again have the chance to clinch the Walter Cup.