**Boston Fleet Overpower Minnesota Frost 4-1 in Sunday Showdown**
BOSTON — Shay Maloney ignited an offensive surge, scoring the first of a season-high four goals as the host Boston Fleet dominated the Minnesota Frost 4-1 on Sunday afternoon. The game took place in front of 5,338 fans at Agganis Arena.
Maloney and team captain Megan Keller scored just 1 minute and 14 seconds apart late in the first period, giving first-place Boston (4-0, 12 points) an early 2-0 lead. Minnesota’s Klára Hymlárová cut the deficit in half early in the second period, with assists from Claire Butorac and Peyton Anderson. It marked Hymlárová’s first goal of the season for Minnesota (2-2, six points).
However, that was as close as the Frost would get. Boston rookie Abby Newhook netted her third goal of the season on the power play just 49 seconds after Hymlárová’s tally, restoring Boston’s two-goal advantage at 3-1. Theresa Schafzahl sealed the scoring with a second Boston power-play goal early in the third period.
“I felt like their pressure all over the ice, the first pressure F1 and the secondary pressure was really good,” Frost defender Lee Stecklein said about the Fleet’s play. “Obviously, they did that last year, too; it just felt really consistent today.”
The Fleet’s goaltender, Aerin Frankel, stopped a season-high 26 shots to earn her league-leading fourth victory. Meanwhile, Minnesota’s Maddie Rooney recorded a season-high 31 saves.
Boston head coach Kris Sparre praised both teams, saying, “I thought that was probably the highest pace game that we’ve played so far. We knew going into this game that it was going to take everybody. That’s a very organized group over there in Minnesota, and you can see why they’ve had a lot of success in this league so far.”
“Credit to our group. I thought we hung in there and felt like we played a pretty tidy game. Our group is pretty reset from last year. We’re focusing on what we have now, and we feel like we’re a completely new team.”
For Minnesota, the loss snapped their season-opening road winning streak at two games, as they played their third straight road contest early this season.
“We started off hot, and I think we just want to be better on our power play and scoring on those chances. And on the back side of that, the PK (penalty kill) gets cleaned up as well because obviously we have them in the next game,” Frost assistant coach Brianna Decker said.
The next matchup for Minnesota takes place on December 19 at Grand Casino Arena in St. Paul, following a near two-week international break for the PWHL.
https://www.pineandlakes.com/sports/pro/fleets-offensive-surge-halts-frosts-road-winning-streak
