The Future Shines Golden In Vancouver's 4-3 Overtime Win Against The Minnesota Frost

Jenn Gardiner, Sophie Jaques, and Hannah Miller erupted into a fit of laughter after giving their answer on what they saw from the defender’s 4–3 overtime winner to round out the Vancouver Goldeneyes’ inaugural season.

“Honestly, I was just thinking, ‘this has to go in the net, because we can’t back check again’,” Jaques said of her seeing-eye shot that beat Minnesota Frost goaltender Marlène Boissonnault to end the game.

It was a fitting ending to a season that has thrown a lot at the Goldeneyes: allowing the opening goal, climbing up to a 3–1 lead, surrendering a couple more in the third period to force overtime… It’s a headline that Vancouver has unfortunately read often throughout their first 30 games in the PWHL.

But, at the end of the day, the emphasis falls on how much fun this team seems to have with one-another.

Lofty expectations as a super-powered expansion franchise sank quickly after Vancouver dropped to the bottom of the PWHL’s standings and never quite managed to float back up. Yet, with Gold Plan points on the line, the Goldeneyes closed out their inaugural season in the exact same way that they opened it — with a 4–3 overtime win in front of a crowd that has had their backs through thick and thin.

“Getting to play in this building, at least I can speak for myself, being from here, probably for Miller as well, but just getting to skate out onto the ice here in the Coliseum, and seeing the thousands of fans that show up for us every night — there’s really no words to describe that feeling," Gardiner said after her team's season-ending win. "Just seeing ‘Vancouver’ across everybody’s chest and the merch that’s out there in the city, it doesn’t really feel real still. And the fact that season one is already over is just mind-blowing to me.”

Credit @ PWHL

"Coming in as expansion team, you're developing that [culture], you're having conversations, you're going through hardships in the season," Goldeneyes Head Coach Brian Idalski added. "That's how your culture evolves."

If you look strictly at the scoresheets from November 21 against the Seattle Torrent and April 25 against the Frost, you’ll see some similarities. The score itself. A goal by Sarah Nurse. A spectacular effort from Emerance Maschmeyer. But look deeper into how this season has gone for the Goldeneyes and you’ll see some big changes that have ultimately helped shape this team and what they’ve helped bring to the west coast.