Goldeneyes Edge Torrent 3-1 in Second Matchup Between PWHL Expansion Teams
PWHL Vancouver Goldeneyes

Goldeneyes Edge Torrent 3-1 in Second Matchup Between PWHL Expansion Teams

Published on January 25, 2026 under Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL)
Vancouver Goldeneyes News Release


DENVER, CO - The Vancouver Goldeneyes have back-to-back wins for just the second time this season, jumping from a seventh-place tie to fifth in the PWHL standings with their 3-1 win over the Seattle Torrent in the PWHL Takeover Tour presented by Woody Creek Distillers. An enthusiastic crowd of 11,612 fans turned out to the league's second game at Ball Arena to cheer on the two expansion teams facing each other for the second time this season in a busy day for local sports, including the Denver Broncos playing across the river in the AFC Championship. Vancouver has come out on top in both matchups after taking the win in overtime in their inaugural game on Nov. 21 at Pacific Coliseum. With just five seconds left in the first period, Vancouver's Jenn Gardiner opened scoring with an unassisted goal, kicked back to her off the faceoff. Jessie Eldridge evened up the game for Seattle with her 13:40 breakaway snapshot goal in the second period. Izzy Daniel gave the Goldeneyes the lead for good with her second consecutive game-winning goal 6:23 into the third, with Michelle Karvinen adding insurance for Vancouver with a rebound goal at 13:42. Emerance Maschmeyer turned away 33/34 shots including a 15-shot push by Seattle in the third period to record her fourth win of the season, while Hannah Murphy made 28 saves in her third consecutive loss.

The Torrent and Goldeneyes join all PWHL teams in playing their final games before the league's first-ever Olympic break on Wednesday, Jan. 28 with Seattle visiting Ottawa and Vancouver heading to Minnesota. From there, 14 players between the two rosters travel to Italy for the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026, beginning Thursday, Feb. 5.

QUOTES

Vancouver forward Izzy Daniel on her recent scoring success: "My teammates are putting me in a good position. On tonight's goal, (Hannah) Miller made a great play to me and I was just standing back door and put it in, so I think it's a collective team effort and I'm just the one on the receiving end of the goals right now. It's all credit to my teammates and my coaches for putting me in a good spot."

Goldeneyes Head Coach Brian Idalski on building momentum following his team's first period penalty kill: "I thought we did a great job early getting pucks deep behind their (defense) and trying to use our speed and forechecking them. When we're doing that, we're creating a lot (of chances). We didn't cash in on some of those chances early, but when we play the right way and we simplify our game, it's amazing how strong we'll play as a group."

Seattle Head Coach Steve O'Rourke's overall thoughts on the game: "I thought the first period didn't have a great flow to it. After that though, I thought we had more emotion in the second period and got rolling. I like the way we played in the second and even in the third we had some good chances. Our faceoffs are a strength and for the first time tonight, I thought we missed some assignments and then we were playing catch up in the last little bit, but we had some chances. I liked a lot of our game but there are little details that you always have to sharpen with how tight this league is."

Torrent forward Danielle Serdachny's reflections on her line's performance: "I think our line did a great job of entering with possession. We were able to create some chances off the rush, which I thought was great to continue getting pucks to the net. Hockey is sometimes a little bit unlucky, and I thought that was kind of the way it went for us today. But I thought we had great chances, caused some chaos in the crease and I'm looking forward to building off of that."

NOTABLES

Vancouver has had their most productive offensive stretch in team history with eight goals in the last two games and tied their most efficient two-game defensive stretch allowing just one goal against.

The Goldeneyes are 2-0-1-1 after four of five PWHL Takeover Tour games of the season, while the Torrent are 0-1-0-2 in three of their four Tour games.

This was the first Takeover Tour game of the season to be decided by multiple goals, with each of the first nine decided by one goal, including five beyond regulation.

The PWHL returned to Denver's Ball Arena for the second time after welcoming 14,018 fans last season - previously the U.S. attendance record - with Minnesota overtaking Montréal 4-2 on Jan. 12, 2025.

Emerance Maschmeyer has allowed one or fewer goals in three games this season and has made 30 or more saves in four. The Canadian netminder is sharpening for her second Olympics, recording her second best save percentage of the season at .971 following her lone shutout on Dec. 6. The Bruderheim, AB goaltender's 19th career win brought her into a tie with Seattle's Corinne Schroeder for fifth in the league all-time.

Jenn Gardiner moved up to second on the team in scoring with her third goal, fifth assist and eighth point of the season. The forward is the only player to have a goal in back-to-back Denver Takeover Tour games, scoring and being named second star last season for Montréal. As the Canadian prepares to represent her country at her first Olympics, momentum is on her side with points in consecutive games for the second time this season and the first time in 2026 (2G, 1A, Dec. 6 -16).

Izzy Daniel reached the back of the net for the fourth time this season with her third game winner and third goal in Takeover Tour games. The second-year forward has points in back-to-back games for the first time in her career with two straight game-winning goals and has doubled her rookie goal total set last season with Toronto.

Michelle Karvinen scored her second goal of the season and has points in consecutive games for the second time in her first PWHL season (2A on Nov. 26-29). The forward has five points on the season with just one Goldeneyes game remaining before she represents Finland at her fifth Olympic Winter Games.

Jessie Eldridge reached the back of the net for the fourth time this season and has goals in back-to-back games for the first time as a member of the Torrent (previously Feb. 15-17, 2025). She now has six points in four games (3G, 3A), her most productive stretch so far this season.

Sarah Nurse notched her first assist of the season on Karvinen's goal and now has points in four consecutive games (3G, 1A) for the fourth time in her career. The stretch is one game away from the longest streak of the Canadian's career (2G, 4A, Jan. 25-Mar. 23, 2025) and currently ties her for the second longest active stretch in the league.

Hannah Miller's fifth assist of the season came as the primary helper on Daniel's third period goal, breaking a four-game scoring drought, her longest of the season.

Tereza Vanišová tallied the primary helper on Karvinen's goal, her team-leading seventh of the season. The Czech Olympian also recorded points in consecutive games (1G, 2A) for the first time as a member of the Goldeneyes.

Julia Gosling extended her team scoring lead with her sixth assist and 12th point of the season, notching a primary helper. The soon-to-be Canadian Olympian continues her breakout season with points in four consecutive games for the first time in her career, tying her for the second longest active streak in the league (2G, 2A since Jan. 11).

Anna Wilgren snapped a four-game scoring drought with her fourth assist of the season and the lead among Seattle defenders. In 13 games, the former Montréal Victoire is now just two helpers away from her rookie season high of six across 30 games.

Hannah Murphy started her sixth game between the pipes and is the only rookie in the league to play in more than three games this season. After securing the win and not allowing more than one goal in each of her first three games, the Canadian netminder has three straight losses, allowing three or more goals in each.

Hannah Bilka and Mikyla Grant-Mentis both recorded a game-high six shots on goal. It's a season-high total for both players, with Grant-Mentis reaching the total twice.

Aneta Tejralová missed her second straight game and is listed day-to-day with a lower-body injury.

THREE STARS

1. Izzy Daniel (VAN) 1G

2. Michelle Karvinen (VAN) 1G

3. Jessie Eldridge (SEA) 1G

STANDINGS

Vancouver: 19 PTS (5-1-2-7) - 5th Place (Tied)

Seattle: 16 PTS (4-1-2-6) - 8th Place

UPCOMING SCHEDULES

Seattle: Wednesday, Jan. 28 at Ottawa at 7 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. PT

Vancouver: Wednesday. Jan. 28 at Minnesota at 9 p.m. ET / 8 p.m. CT / 6 p.m. PT



Professional Women's Hockey League Stories from January 25, 2026


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