The Boston Pride begin their quest for a third straight Isobel Cup championship when they host the Minnesota Whitecaps in the PHF semifinals.
Boston finished the regular season atop the league standings with a 19-4-1 record. The Pride clinched a playoff berth before the PHF All-Star break and ended the season winning three of their last four.
Bentley Arena in Waltham, Mass., will play host to the semifinals and a 2021 Isobel Cup Final rematch against the Whitecaps, who won it all in 2019.
Minnesota clinched the fourth seed on the last weekend of regular season play and ended the year with an eight-game losing streak, finishing with a 10-11-3 record.
The Pride swept the Whitecaps in their four games, scoring 17 goals against them.
The best-of-three series is in Boston's favor, but the Whitecaps are a tough team that won't go down easy, but having to try to score on Corinne Schroeder is no easy task. The Pride goalie was a brick wall for Boston all season, giving her team a chance to win and bailing them out at times during the year. A 19-1-1 record, .955 save percentage and 1.67 goals-against average will make it difficult for Minnesota.
Schroeder also made PHF history and became the first PFH goalie to make at least 700 saves and win at least 18 games in a season.
Boston also boasts some elite scoring on its roster, including Loren Gabel, who scored 20 goals and notched 20 assists and earned Player of the Month honors for February after amassing 11 points in five games. She was the only player in PHF to reach the 20-goal mark and is not afraid to shoot the puck given her 146 shots on goal this season.
The Pride also is led by captain and three-time Isobel Cup champ Jillian Dempsey, two-time Defender of the Year Kaleigh Fratkin and newcomer Allie Thunstrom, who became the first player in PHF history to score 20 goals in a season while she was a member of the Whitecaps.
The Whitecaps have an uphill battle going into the semifinals, but the Pride never takes an opponent lightly.
The best-of-three series between the Pride and the Whitecaps begins Thursday at 7 p.m. ET. The game will air on NESN+, with all three games (if necessary) appearing on NESN 360 or NESN networks.
