Cava's Double-Overtime Heroics Eliminates Boston and Sends Ottawa to Second Straight Finals
PWHL Ottawa Charge

Cava's Double-Overtime Heroics Eliminates Boston and Sends Ottawa to Second Straight Finals

Published on May 10, 2026 under Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL)
Ottawa Charge News Release


Michela Cava pf the Ottawa Charge (left)
Michela Cava pf the Ottawa Charge (left)
(Ottawa Charge, Credit: PWHL)

KANATA, ON - Michela Cava scored at 1:12 of the second overtime period to lift the Ottawa Charge to a 4-3 victory over the Boston Fleet in front of 11,297 fans at Canadian Tire Centre on Sunday to end the best-of-five semifinal series 3-1. The Charge advance to the PWHL Walter Cup Finals for the second straight season in what will either be the first all-Canadian championship series or a rematch of the 2025 finals, as they await the winner between the Montréal Victoire and Minnesota Frost, who play a decisive Game 5 on Monday night. Cava, already a two-time Walter Cup champion, showed her playoff poise and offensive instincts on the winning goal, capitalizing on an offensive zone turnover and burying a perfect pass from Kateřina Mrázová to send the home crowd into a frenzy. After Charge rookie Sarah Wozniewicz opened the scoring on a first period power play, redirecting a shot from Fanuza Kadirova at 6:58, the teams combined for five goals in the second period to outscore each of the first three games of the series. Ottawa native Rebecca Leslie made it 2-0 at 3:25 of the middle frame, followed by a flurry of three Fleet goals in a record span of 1:33. First, it was Shay Maloney on the doorstep at 5:19, then captain Megan Keller with a power-play blast at 6:00 to tie the game, and Sophie Shirley tucked in a rebound on the rush at 6:52 to give Boston its first lead since Game 1. Charge defender Brooke Hobson scored the final goal in regulation, pouncing on a rebound from a Kadirova shot on the rush at 12:12 of the second period to tie the game 3-3. Gwyneth Philips, who turned aside 43 shots in victory, stood tall throughout the series as the Charge were outshot in all four games, including 46-33 today - and 37-22 through regulation. Ottawa's 11-9 shots advantage in overtime generated some of their best chances of the game against Aerin Frankel, who took the loss with 29 stops opposite her Team USA and former Northeastern teammate. Boston was the earliest team to clinch a postseason berth this season and qualified for the first time since 2024 with a team-record 21 wins and 62 points as the league's second seed. Ottawa, the league's fourth seed - who clinched their playoff spot on the last day of the regular season - has made it to the finals in each of the team's two postseason appearances.

QUOTES

Ottawa captain Brianne Jenner on her team's resiliency to bounce back from three straight Boston goals in the second period: "I think it says a lot about us. When you go up 2-0 and then in the span of five minutes, you let that lead go, I think a lot of teams would fold. The fact that we were able to put that in the rearview mirror and just keep going is something that we try to cultivate in our locker room. That is stuff that we work on with our mental performance coach Kim Thompson who worked with us on that all year. So, to see it come out in a big game where it would have been easy to hang our heads right after those five minutes. But, we kept going and found a way."

Charge forward Michela Cava on her first goal with Ottawa being an overtime winner: "That was a big one! I feel like I've been trying. I've been with them for 17 games and even more now in playoffs. It just felt like I had bad puck luck. I have been so close so many times and it feels really good just to get this one for the girls. Everybody's been so great. I keep saying that, but it's a great team. So, it's a lot of fun."

Boston Head Coach Kris Sparre on the season as a whole: "We have an incredible group of players who came to work every day and made my job easy. As a first-year head coach, I couldn't have asked for more. It sucks here tonight, but I'm certainly thankful and proud of our group."

Fleet alternate captain Jamie Lee Rattray reflects on the team chemistry all season: "Honestly, the way we treat each other every day. We came to work and we worked for each other. Kris challenged us in the beginning of the year and we did that; no one complained one bit. It's such a special group. I had a ton of fun coming to the rink every day, you don't always find that in pro hockey. I think if you look across the year, at every single game it didn't matter who got it done, we were pumped for that person. It was a group effort and I'm super proud of this group. It stings right now but we gave it our all. I'll remember this group for a very long time."

NOTABLES

All seven completed playoff series in PWHL history have been won by the lower seed.

Ottawa advances to the PWHL Walter Cup Finals for the second straight season with a Game 4 victory on home ice, defeating Montréal 2-1 last season in regulation on May 16, 2025. The Charge improve their all-time playoff record to 5-1 on home ice.

The Charge scored four goals in a playoff game for the first time in team history and won in overtime for the seventh time in 2025-26 after going a perfect 6-0 in overtime during the regular season, setting a PWHL record.

Boston lost three straight games for the first time in 2025-26, surrendering four goals for just the third time all season. They had won their only other Game 4 in playoff history, 1-0 in double-overtime against Minnesota to extend the inaugural season finals on May 26, 2024. The Fleet's all-time playoff road record falls to 3-3.

Seven of the eight head-to-head games between the teams this season were decided by one goal, including five beyond regulation.

Ottawa played in overtime for the second straight Mother's Day, losing 3-2 to Montréal last season in the longest game in PWHL history at 135:33 of the fourth overtime.

When scoring three goals during regulation in the regular season, Boston was 9-2-0-1 and Ottawa carried a 7-2-0-1 record.

Ottawa scored first in all four games of the series after Boston led the PWHL with 23 game-opening goals during the regular season.

All seven of Boston's goals in the series were scored in the second period.

The Fleet scored on the power play for the first time in team playoff history, snapping a streak of 27 scoreless opportunities, including 12 in this series and 15 during the inaugural postseason.

Boston's three goals in 1:33 are the fastest three goals scored by a team in PWHL history, playoffs or regular season. There are just two other instances of a team scoring three times in less than two minutes, and both were against Ottawa, including by Minnesota in 1:36 in the first period on Mar. 18, 2026, and New York in 1:39 of the third period back on Feb. 4, 2024.

The five second-period goals scored by both teams today tied a PWHL playoff record. Five were previously scored in the second period of Game 2 in the semifinal series between Minnesota and Toronto on May 9, 2025, and there were five in the middle frame of Game 1 of the finals between Boston and Minnesota on May 19, 2024.

The Fleet outshot the Charge 142-94 in the series, including all four games by double-digit margins.

Michela Cava scored her first goal in 21 games as a member of the Charge, joining the team on Jan. 18 in a trade with Vancouver, and has points in consecutive games for the first time with Ottawa. The two-time Walter Cup champion picked up her sixth career multi-point playoff game with an assist on top of her overtime goal and now has three career game-winning goals in the postseason, the most all-time. Her 16 career playoff points in 22 games ranks second (8G, 8A) behind Taylor Heise's 17.

Fanuza Kadirova recorded her first career multi-assist game, has consecutive multi-point games for the first time, and has her first-ever three-game point streak. The Russian forward leads all playoff scorers with five points (2G, 3A) in four games.

Haley Winn recorded two assists, her first career playoff points, to snap a season-high three-game drought and became the first rookie with a multi-point game in the 2026 postseason. The Fleet first-round pick tied for second among rookies and third among all defenders with 19 points in 30 regular-season games.

Rebecca Leslie scored her first goal of the 2026 postseason and 15th of the entire campaign, two days after the Ottawa native celebrated her 30th birthday at Canadian Tire Centre, to give her three points in four games of the series. All four of her career playoff goals have been scored on home ice, including two last season at TD Place and one in the inaugural playoffs with Toronto.

Sarah Wozniewicz was credited with her first career playoff goal and point, tallying with the player advantage to become the first rookie to score in the 2026 PWHL Playoffs. The Charge third-round pick tied for second among rookies with seven goals during the regular season but, among all nine rookies to score four or more goals, she was the only one without a power-play goal.

Brooke Hobson scored her first playoff goal and point in her fourth career playoff game, debuting in the postseason with the Charge to cap her third PWHL season. The former New York defender has three goals in 76 career regular season games, tallying once in each of her three campaigns.

Megan Keller scored the first power-play goal in Boston playoff history with her second tally in three games. The Fleet captain led all defenders in scoring with 22 points during the regular season, including four power-play goals, and her four points (4A) during the 2024 postseason tied for the team lead. Her 43:34 time on ice led all skaters today and is a new career high.

Shay Maloney scored her first career playoff goal and had points in consecutive games for the first time this season following an assist in Game 3. The Fleet forward's nine points (4G, 5A) across 34 total games in 2025-26 match the nine points (3G, 6A) she recorded in 30 regular-season games as a rookie in 2024-25.

Sophie Shirley snapped an eight-game pointless drought with her first goal and point of the 2026 postseason. Prior to the scoreless streak, the third-year Fleet forward had a career-high three-game point streak (3G, 2A) from Mar. 27 to Apr. 7 and previously had a goal and an assist in the team's eight-game playoff run in 2024.

Gwyneth Philips'43 saves are a season-high and marked the fifth time she's faced 40 or more shots in a game in 2025-26 - and third time in her playoff career. The reigning Ilana Kloss Playoff MVP ranks second all-time with seven wins in 12 playoff starts, while her save percentage of .951 in the series is just one point off her .952 mark in eight playoff games in 2025. She recorded her first career assist this afternoon, becoming just the second goaltender in playoff history to get one.

Kateřina Mrázová finished the series with assists in consecutive games, her first two career playoff points after being held off the scoresheet in six postseason games in 2025. Five of the Czech forward's nine assists across the season have been primary helpers.

Jocelyne Larocque picked up an assist for her fourth point of the series and led all Charge skaters with 34:19 time on ice. The alternate captain's goal and three assists in four games of the 2026 playoffs matches her offensive production across eight games of the 2025 playoffs.

Brianne Jenner set up a Leslie goal for the 10th time this season, with the Charge captain finding the scoresheet for the first time this postseason. Her last playoff points came on Mother's Day 2025 with a goal and an assist in Game 2 of the semifinal series against Montréal, snapping a nine-game playoff drought with today's primary helper.

Alina Müller had points in three of four games this series with today's power-play assist bringing her team-leading point total to four (1G, 3A). The Fleet alternate captain led all skaters today with six shots on goal and leads the playoffs with 22. She also finished the series with 67 faceoff wins, including 19 today, for a playoff efficiency of 60.9%.

Jessie Eldridge found the scoresheet for the first time since Game 1 with today's power-play assist following her two-assist effort in the opener. Logging a career-high 30:58 time on ice today to lead all forwards, her three points in the series ranked second on the Fleet in her first career postseason appearance after 84 career regular-season games across three full seasons.

Ella Huber had assists in consecutive games for the second time this season, previously picking up helpers Dec. 27 in Ottawa and Jan. 3 against Vancouver. Those were her only two assists across 30 regular-season games, with the Fleet second-round rookie matching that total in her first four career playoff appearances.

Jill Saulnier notched her first career playoff point in Game 4, with this series marking her first career postseason appearance after 67 regular-season games. Her six points (2G, 4A) in 25 games with the Fleet were the most in her three-year career.

Aerin Frankel surrendered four goals for the first time in 12 career playoff starts and for just the second time in 2025-26 following a 4-3 regulation loss to Vancouver on Jan. 3. Her 2.09 GAA and .903 SV% during the series fell short of her 1.17 GAA and .953 SV% that ranked second among goaltenders during the regular season.

THREE STARS

1. Michela Cava (OTT) 1G, 1A

2. Fanuza Kadirova (OTT) 2A

3. Haley Winn (BOS) 2A

NEXT GAME

Ottawa at Montréal or Minnesota, TBD

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Images from this story

Michela Cava pf the Ottawa Charge (left)
Michela Cava pf the Ottawa Charge (left)
(PWHL)		   



Professional Women's Hockey League Stories from May 10, 2026


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