Estimated read time: 1-2 minutes
OTTAWA, Ontario — Abby Roque scored twice, Ann-Renée Desbiens made 23 saves and the Montreal Victoire won their first PWHL title, beating the Ottawa Charge 4-0 on Wednesday night in Game 4 of the Walter Cup Finals.
Maggie Flaherty and Lina Ljungblom also scored. Montreal opened the best-of-five series at home with two overtime victories, then fell 2-1 at Ottawa on Monday night. Home teams had won the last five finals games.
The Minnesota Frost won the first two titles in league history, beating Ottawa in four games last year in the championship series. Montreal beat Minnesota in the semifinals this season.
Marie-Philip Poulin was honored as the playoff MVP. She tied for the postseason lead with eight points on two goals and six assists.
Roque opened the scoring at 3:49 of the second period on a deflection off Ottawa defender Rory Guilday's stick. On a break with Poulin, Roque went deep into the right corner and swept the puck to the middle, where it glanced off Guilday's stick and past goalie Gwyneth Philips.
Roque scored short-handed at 9:58 of the third, cutting across the crease on a break and beating Philips with a backhander.
Poulin was off for interference when Roque scored. Montreal also killed a penalty in each of the first two periods, while Ottawa was penalty-free.
Flaherty made it 3-0 with 6:06 remaining. She put a shot from the blue line through traffic into the top right corner. Ljungblom capped the scoring off a turnover with 4:16 left.
___
AP women's hockey: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-hockey
