The Toronto Sceptres took the ice at home for the first time this season Saturday, Nov. 29, at Coca-Cola Coliseum, where they fell short 3-1 to the Boston Fleet.
The Sceptres had played one game before this home opener when they kicked off their season in Minnesota with a 2-1 win against the 2024-2025 Walter Cup champs, the Minnesota Frost.
The Sceptres signed forward Lauren Messier to a 10-day contract after forward Darryl Watts was injured.
The Sceptres had a great start to Saturday’s game, and the arena was buzzing with more than 8,000 fans in attendance.
Captain Blayre Turnball scored the first and the only goal for Toronto in this was a shorthanded one after forward Claire Dalton took a penalty for high-sticking.
“I think we played well. We made improvements since we played Minnesota. We are pretty happy with the game, we know what areas we need to improve on as we head into the next game,” Turnbull said.
Defender Ella Shelton, who was traded in the summer to Toronto from the New York Sirens, had her first experience playing on her new home team’s rink.
“It’s been electric out there. They (the fans) show up, and you feel the energy of them pushing you along the ice. It’s very cool to see a full crowd,” Shelton said.
“Boston’s got pretty good goalies, I think it’s up to us to find different ways to put pucks in the back of the net,” Shelton said
Coach Troy Ryan said he wasn’t too upset with the performance overall, but added he did note what the team needs to change to continue at the top level of the league.
'I was pretty happy with the play overall for our second game of the year. I just think we didn’t bury them when we could’ve buried them. When you let them linger, they capitalize on a couple of mistakes,” he said.
“We got to be better offensively. We won’t fix it in six or seven games; it’ll probably take a while. A team that generally has a lot of physicality, sometimes the composure to stay off to the weak side and watch things unfold and join in offensively can benefit, and I don’t think we did a great job on that weak side of the ice tonight,” Ryan said.
With a top defensive player like Watts out, it can be tricky for teams to find their footing.
“As much as you try and get your power play and penalty kill and individual stuff better, you got to work on what type of team you want to be when something bad happens," Ryan said. "I felt some shoulders drop. I think at times early in the season, you got a building full and young players experiencing it for the first time.
"The biggest thing you can do is just talk about it. We discussed it after the game,” Ryan said.
The Sceptres play their third game of the season tonight, a home tilt against the Ottawa Charge, giving the team lots of time to change their strategies.
“I’d be quite happy at this point of the year. If this were 10 games in, I’m probably not very happy,” he said.
“Sometimes we come in and win games, and I’m unhappy, but this one we lost and from this point in the season I’ll take it any day,” Ryan said
Boston fleet head coach Kris Sparre acknowledged that the Sceptres controlled the first period.
“I think we got better as the game went on. We were caught off guard a little bit by their pressure in the first period,” Sparre said.
Sparre pointed to the excellent goaltending of Aerin Frankel, who allowed only one of Toronto's 25 shots to get past her. Boston managed only 12 shots on goal, but three goals, albeit one being an empty net goal as Toronto pulled goalie Raygan Kirk out of the net with 2:15 left in the third period.
“We defended well enough to give ourselves a chance to win the game, and our goaltending was outstanding,” Sparre said.
The Fleet is undefeated so far.
Boston forward Laura Kluge, who started her PWHL career in Toronto with the Sceptres, but signed with Boston over the summer, said she was "super excited to be back in Toronto.
"I don’t think I would be in this league without Toronto giving me the chance last year, so I’m super happy to be here,” she said.
After hosting the Charge, Toronto travels to Montréal to play the Victoire on Dec. 7.
