Boston Blades Take the Series Versus the Furies

On Saturday, November 15th the Furies met downtown Toronto at Porter Airport to make their way to Boston to play the Blades for the first time this season… (and no, unfortunately Mallory Deluce, Pilot/speedy center of the Toronto Furies was not flying the plane). The Furies were very anxious and excited to play the Blades as this was the first time they saw the Blades since the 2014 Clarkson Cup.

Excited and fueled up on Starbucks, the Furies decided to add a little more fun to their warm up and play some very competitive basketball before hitting the ice. The Furies have mastered the game of keep ups and it was a great way to get our legs going after the flight!

Both teams hit the ice at the University of Massachusetts at 6:00pm on Saturday. The Furies were ready to play, but Boston seemed to have a little more jump to their step. The Blades were the first on the board with a beautiful goal from Jillian Dempsey with the assists from Kaleigh Fratkin and Hilary Knight. The first period ended with a 1-0 score, the Blades giving Toronto a bit of room to catch up. It wasn’t long before the Blades put up another unanswered goal, followed by a third. The score was now 3-0 for the Blades, but apparently pilot/speedy center Mal Deluce was not about to let the Blades get up by 4. With a few quick passes between Natalie Spooner and Team USA’s Megan Bozek, Mal was able to tip a bomb from Spooner into the back of the net. With a Hat Trick from Dempsey and another quick goal by Kohanchuk, the game would end in a 6-2 score for the Blades.

The Furies would play a 12:30 game Sunday afternoon before catching another flight back to Toronto  (Mal didn’t fly that plane either). This game seemed to be just a little bit more aggressive as both teams were throwing the body around. The Blades added some strong names to their roster for Sunday’s game- Team USA Captain Meghan Duggan and Yale Coach Jess Koizumi, both great players and two more people to keep an eye on! After Saturday’s loss the Furies made a few changes to the line combinations, had an extra shot of espresso from Starbucks and a bit more jump to their step in their basketball warm up!

The Blades took a quick lead scoring 2 goals in the first (Kaleigh Fratkin and Rachel Llanes), but soon after Carolyn Prevost, #27 of the Furies scored a quick goal off the faceoff to get the Furies back on the board! At this point the game seemed very “back-and-forth.” Both teams getting great opportunities and both goalies were making phenomenal saves. At 10:40 of the second Period Julie Allen bolted down the right side and snuck a beautiful shot over Brittany Ott’s Shoulder to tie the game at 2-2.

The Blades answered back with another 2 goals to finish off the second. The third would stay tied until Dempsey decided to put the nail on the coffin with a final score of 5-2. Both Teams played a great series, and it was the start to a very competitive rivalry for both teams this season.

Toronto will head to Montreal the weekend of November 29th to take on the Stars for the first time this season.

– Katie Wilson, Toronto furies