For the second straight season, the Ottawa Charge know what heartbreak feels like. The Charge fell to the Montréal Victoire 4-0 on Wednesday in game four of the Walter Cup series, sending the Victoire home as champions.
As has been a recurring theme throughout the playoffs, the Charge struggled to get shots on goal throughout the game. To be fair, it wasn’t much better for the Victoire, either. Ottawa registered 23 shots, including 13 in the third period. Montréal only had 16 shots, including three goals on four shots in the third.
While it’s undoubtedly a tough way to end the season for the Ottawa Charge, here are a few takeaways for the team:
Feeling Proud
Ottawa Charge head coach Carla MacLeod summed it up well in her postgame media availability:
“When you’re playing for a championship, the objective is to win the championship. Obviously, there’s a disappointment by falling a bit short. That’s a very real feeling, a very raw feeling, but it’s amazing how quickly you can turn that into understanding what has actually transpired this season,” she said.
“Ultimately, the emotion that rises the most in myself and our staff was just truly pride,” MacLeod added. “This is a group that just kept chugging. We just kept going. Nobody gave us any credit coming into this season. Nobody gave us credit halfway through the season. This was a group of women that were just so driven and motivated to get better, and to earn their way into a playoff spot; to earn our way into the Walter Cup Final.”
“You wish for a better ending for the group, because they’re such a special team,” she said. “I can tell you the biggest emotion I have right now is pride. I’m very, very proud of them.”
Closer Than It Seems
The final score doesn’t seem to fairly reflect how close Wednesday’s game was for much of the sixty minutes. It was scoreless for the first 23:49 and remained a one-goal game for over 26 minutes. Things really fell apart in the second half of the third period, when the Victoire scored three goals in rapid succession.
Following Abby Roque’s second goal at 9:58, Maggie Flaherty sealed it at 13:54. Less than two minutes later, Lina Ljungblom really sealed the win at 15:44. This wasn’t the first time we saw the Charge’s opponent scored several goals in a short span, and this time, it sunk their championship hopes.
“At the end of the day… there’s little things that happen and should have, could have, would have liked, but one thing we know is everyone gave everything they could, and everyone’s intention was always putting the team first,” said Jocelyne Larocque after the game.
“We’re in this series. This was not a tilted game; I think the score wasn’t indicative of the game,” MacLeod added. “We played with our heart. You can see it every single game. We gave everything we had. We emptied the tank today, as well. Some days you get a bounce, some days you don’t. Ultimately, this series, this season, this playoffs, we’re not walking away with anything other than being very proud of what we’ve accomplished.”
The Future is The Future
The Ottawa Charge know that things are going to change a lot over the offseason with four expansion teams coming, a multi-step process for player disbursement and plenty of free agents. But for now, that’s not the focus.
“It’s not really the moment that we’re going to worry about what the future is,” MacLeod said. “What’s most important after today is that they get to spend some time together and just really be proud of what they’ve cultivated in that room.”
“The future is the future, but that doesn’t really have a place in this moment,” she added. “This moment’s just genuinely about this team and what these women have accomplished.”