Lou Orlando
NEWARK — A record-setting crowd of 8,264 filed into Prudential Center for International Women’s Day on Sunday afternoon. The New York Sirens rewarded them with a 6-2 victory over the Ottawa Charge, snapping a five-game skid and leaping back into a playoff spot.
New York shattered its previous home attendance record — set during the team’s first game at Prudential Center on April 20, 2024 — by more than 3,000. And the fans had plenty to cheer about.
The Sirens racked up a season-high six goals, matching the franchise record set last season in a 6-3 win over Ottawa. Sarah Fillier and Taylor Girard each scored twice; Fillier added an assist to round out a three-point effort, tying her career-best mark for points in a single game. Rookie center Casey O’Brien recorded a pair of helpers, assisting on Fillier and Girard’s first tallies.
New York earned three points for the first time since Jan. 18, and jockeyed back in front of the Charge in the PWHL standings. Ottawa overtook the Sirens in the playoff picture Wednesday, defeating the Seattle Torrent 4-3, but New York now holds a one-point edge for fourth place with 27 points (8-0-3-8) after its win Sunday.
Ottawa tied a team-worst record in goals allowed. Charge goalie Gwyneth Philips surrendered five goals on 31 shots; New York added a sixth tally with Ottawa’s net empty.
“We were off today. We could feel it on our bench. We could see it,” Charge coach Carla MacLeod acknowledged postgame. “It’s not from a lack of care. We just weren’t good today. And we can own that one. We got it. We will park it and move on. But certainly that’s the reality.”
Despite MacLeod’s blunt assessment, Ottawa nearly landed the first blow in the opening frame. Rookie defender Rory Guilday beat Sirens goalie Kayle Osborne with a point snipe, as her shot clipped the right post and clanged into the net at 9:28 of the first period. After review, officials waved off the score for goalie interference by Charge forward Sarah Wozniewicz.
Wozniewicz didn’t appear to initiate contact with Osborne, although her skates did cross through the blue crease as Guilday fired her shot.
“At the end of the day, whether I want the outcome or like the outcome, it doesn’t matter. They’re doing their job, and that was the call,” MacLeod said. “And no problem for us — we had lots of game left. But we just didn’t have enough in our tank to really put New York on their heels at any point.”
It didn’t take long for the Sirens to tilt the ice. New York scored three goals in 3:56 of game time — much to the delight of a raucous home crowd.
Jaime Bourbonnais unloaded a clapper wide right of the net, but it caromed off the boards and found the stick of Sirens rookie Maddi Wheeler on the doorstep. Wheeler quickly shot it into an open net, giving the Sirens a 1-0 lead at 13:41 of the first.
Fillier made it 2-0 less than two minutes later. O’Brien carried the puck zone-to-zone, curled behind the net, and connected with a crashing Fillier on a centering feed. Fillier wound up and fired it past Philips at 14:51, before toppling over the Charge goalie in the crease.
It snapped a career-long 14-game goal drought for Fillier, who entered play with just one goal this season.
Girard continued the rout after multiple Charge penalties gave the Sirens a 5-on-3 advantage for 1:47. Girard finished off a tic-tac-toe play from Fillier and O’Brien, sliding the puck through Philips’ five-hole at 17:10 for a 3-0 lead.
Ottawa got one back at 18:03, when Rebecca Leslie moved the puck low-to-high, setting up Charge captain Brianne Jenner in the slot for her ninth goal of the season.
Neither side scored in the second period, but the high-flying action continued with ramped-up physicality. A full skirmish behind the Ottawa net led to a double roughing minor for Sirens forward Kristyna Kaltounkova. Later in the frame, Kaltounkova flattened Charge forward Alexa Vasko with a booming hit.
Ottawa cut the lead to 3-2 at 3:18 of the third period. Brooke McQuigge redirected an Emma Greco shot to Gabbie Hughes, who shot it into the net before Osborne could recover. But the Charge’s late surge was short-lived.
Girard restored New York’s cushion with her second tally of the night. Sirens rookie Anne Cherkowski dug the puck out behind the net and found Girard left of the crease with a backhand feed. Girard squeezed it past Philips on the glove side to make it 4-2 at 10:45. The 27-year-old now ranks top 10 in the PWHL with seven goals in 16 games; she tallied five goals in 42 games across her first two seasons in the League. Five of her goals this season came against Philips and the Charge.
Sirens defender Allyson Simpson tallied her first goal of the season at 15:27, cleaning up a loose puck in the slot. New York’s second power-play goal of the game extended their lead to 5-2 — although this one came at a cost.
Charge forward Kateřina Mrázová knocked O’Brien out of the game with a big hit to her numbers, sending the Sirens rookie headfirst into the half wall. O’Brien remained on the ice for an extended period; she was helped to the locker room and did not return. Sirens coach Greg Fargo didn’t provide an update postgame, since O’Brien was still being evaluated.
Mrázová’s hit was ruled a major penalty on the ice. After review, officials reduced it to a two-minute boarding minor.
“I didn’t see it live. I actually didn’t see it until just a few minutes ago, when I had a chance to go back and look at the video. I’d be curious as to why they reduced it. Hopefully, we can get some kind of an explanation,” Fargo noted postgame. “I think the margins are really, really thin. It’s a physical game out there. The crowd obviously loves it. The players love the physicality. But we’re riding the edge of players getting hurt, and no one wants to see that.”
With Philips on the bench for the extra attacker, Fillier iced New York’s big win. The Sirens star sped out on a breakaway and flipped the puck into the open Ottawa net at 19:15 of the third.
The Charge have not won consecutive games since Jan. 11. They fell to fifth overall at 26 points (5-5-1-8).
New York kept life relatively easy for Osborne, who faced just 18 shots and stopped 16. Philips, by contrast, fell victim to two different offensive surges by the Sirens
“I think they came out really hungry today,” Jenner noted. “And I don’t think we nailed our assignments of clearing the net front and boxing out. We just weren’t where we needed to be with that.”
The Sirens had good reason to be hungry. Aerin Frankel shut out New York in a 1-0 Boston Fleet victory on Thursday, handing the Sirens their fifth consecutive loss in the process. New York’s offense could not be subdued against Philips.
“A lot of good things — scored in different ways tonight,” said Fargo. “But I think overall, our collective effort to play a good team game today was there. We wanted to make sure that we were playing in the offensive zone as much as possible. We had a lot of great efforts up and down the lineup.”
Key takeaways after Sirens rout Charge 6-2
Sirens win ‘important one’ amid tight playoff race
The Sirens had plenty on their plate leading into the game Sunday against the Charge. Between the record-setting crowd and five-game losing streak, New York hardly needed extra incentive to bring their A-game. But the matchup provided an opportunity to reclaim the final PWHL playoff spot from a Charge squad that leapfrogged the Sirens earlier in the week.
Fargo acknowledged that the playoff implications were at the forefront of his squad’s mind.
“Yeah, I would say without question,” Fargo stated. “As days pass by in this League and things are so tight, you keep an eye on the standings and what’s going on. These points are really important. We know we’re battling teams like Ottawa for the playoffs, so to come out today and play that type of a game — I think it was an important one for us.”
This one had an unmistakable postseason feel, even if the final score was rather lopsided. Both sides embraced the physicality, whether it came during play or after the whistle.
“I think the competitive nature is ramping up, because we all know what’s on the line every game,” MacLeod offered. “This League is a fun one. Every game does matter.”
If the current standings are any indication, the 2025-26 PWHL playoff chase will go right down to the wire. Just six points separate the third through seventh-place teams, but New York can breathe easier with a playoff spot in its grasp again.
“I think this group, even over the last stretch of games [that] haven’t gone our way, we’ve done a really nice job to stay focused in on our game,” Fargo said.
The Sirens close out March with four straight on the road, starting with a steep test against the Minnesota Frost next Sunday.
Fillier wants to see ‘floodgates open’ after three-point gem
After Fillier failed to score against Boston on Thursday, I published an article detailing her goal-scoring woes. It didn’t have a long shelf life.
“I think I took your article personally,” Fillier joked postgame.
Fillier entered play with a 1.7 shooting percentage in 2025-26 — the lowest of any PWHL skater with at least one goal. It was only a matter of time before her puck luck took a turn for the better.
“I thought I’d been playing well and had good stretches through the beginning of the season,” Fillier said. “Sometimes pucks don’t go in.”
Her point production remained at an elite level, even before her scoring outburst Sunday. Fillier recorded her 11th assist of the season on Girard’s power play goal; she ranks second overall, trailing only Frost forward Taylor Heise (15).
But after notching three goals and six assists with Team Canada in the 2026 Milan-Cortina Olympics, Fillier hoped that scoring touch would travel back with her to North America.
“Thought I had a good Olympics, and wanted to ride that wave of playing really well back here,” she explained. “It’s nice when a few go. Hopefully, the floodgates open for the back half of the season.”
Thanks to her three-point effort, Fillier moves into a tie with Alex Carpenter as the Sirens’ all-time scoring leader with 43 points. She also overtook rookie phenom Kristyna Kaltounkova for the team lead in scoring; Fillier and O’Brien are tied with 14 points this season.
Prudential Center crowd helps fuel ‘special’ day
The Sirens pulled out all the stops for Women’s Empowerment and International Women’s Day at Prudential Center.
New Jersey native and USA women’s national soccer team forward Tobin Heath read the starting lineups inside the Sirens locker room. Gotham FC’s Lilly Reale, Mandy Freeman, and Khyah Harper took part in a ceremonial puck drop. Other notable attendees included Christen Press, Ali Krieger, and Jen Beattie.
The main headline, however, was the 8,264 fans who filled the seats.
“It was exciting for us,” Sirens captain Micah Zandee-Hart said after celebrating the win in front of the record crowd. “Obviously, we wanted to have a game like that, too. But I think our fans that have been at every game deserve that, and we felt it from them tonight. It was cool to experience that with them.”
The fact that it happened on International Women’s Day only sweetened the pot.
“To see all the little girls in the stands, I think that just brings you back,” Zandee-Hart said. “I know, for me, when I see someone wearing my jersey in the stands, it gives me chills every time. And just to see them supporting us, and being a part of this collective movement with us was really special.”
