Highlights and Press Conferences available on Ottawa and Toronto YouTube channels
OTTAWA, ON (April 25, 2026) – The Ottawa Charge are headed back to the PWHL Walter Cup Playoffs, securing the fourth and final berth with a 3-0 win over the Toronto Sceptres before a sold-out crowd of 8,306 fans at TD Place on Saturday afternoon. Gwyneth Philips turned aside all 41 shots for her fourth straight win and third shutout of the season, and Fanuza Kadirova’s 10th goal of the season held as the winner, pouncing on a loose puck at the edge of the crease at 4:08 of the second period. This was the third straight year the Ontario rivals met on the final day of the regular season with playoff implications, with Toronto previously eliminating Ottawa with a regulation win to close the inaugural season and the Charge earning an overtime win in 2024-25 to clinch. The Sceptres, who needed a regulation win today to qualify, will miss the postseason for the first time in team history. An offensive zone turnover forced by Brianne Jenner led to Ottawa’s second goal, with the captain feeding rookie Sarah Wozniewicz, who snuck behind the Sceptres defence and made a pretty backhand deke past Raygan Kirk 1:03 into the third. Alexa Vasko iced the game with an empty-net goal at 15:38. Toronto outshot Ottawa 41-31 in the contest but could not solve Philips, even with the game’s only three power-play opportunities. Kirk stopped 28 shots in defeat. Ottawa won four straight games to close out the season, including two against Toronto, earning 11 of a possible 12 points down the stretch. Toronto managed to earn just four of a possible 12 in their last four games. The Charge will have to wait until Sunday night to learn their playoff opponent with first place still to be determined between Boston and Montréal heading into tonight’s final game. The semifinal series in Boston begins Thursday at the Tsongas Center, while Montréal gets underway next Saturday at Place Bell. Ottawa’s playoff home games will be played at Canadian Tire Centre on the heels of the team surpassing 100,000 home fans for the first time in three seasons.
QUOTES
Charge captain Brianne Jenner on clinching a playoff spot in front of the home crowd: “This will be one that I'll remember for a while. The energy in the building when we were getting close to closing it out was amazing. Obviously, kudos to Toronto. It was a really back and forth game, but to get that in front of our fans is really special.”
Ottawa goaltender Gwyneth Philips on coming up with a 41-save shutout in a key game: “I just know that if I take care of my job, the girls in front of me are there to help. There were some really great boxing of the opposition players. The game was pretty even with some sustained time in the offensive zone. When I see my teammates working so hard, it just kind of pushes me to keep working hard too.”
Sceptres forward Natalie Spooner on the Toronto fans and the game: “Even in warmups we had so many signs for us, which was great to see that a lot of Toronto fans made it out here to support us. I thought the game was back and forth. We had lots of chances, and again, we just needed to capitalize on them and put them in.”
Toronto Head Coach Troy Ryan on the back half of the season: “We talked about it before the game. We’ve been happy with how the second half of the season, the back 14 games after the Olympic break, and I think we read an article somewhere that said the Sceptres had a 4% chance of making the playoffs. Obviously, that turns out to be true today, but I think we put ourselves in a pretty good spot to be back in the conversation. I think that’s something the group should be proud of. At that point of the year, things get pretty tired, players are exhausted—especially the ones coming back from the Olympics—they kind of re-focused and dug down and found a way to get themselves back in the conversation, so I think they deserve a ton of credit for that. Obviously as a group, we’re sad and disappointed we didn’t find a way to finish it off.”
NOTABLES
Ottawa wins the season series 8-7 in points, outscoring Toronto 12-8 across the five games. The series saw two straight shutouts, both by the Charge, after none were recorded in the first 14 games played between the teams all-time.
The Charge finished with 44 points for the second straight season but won a team record 17 games compared to last season’s 14.
Ottawa finished its home schedule with 24 points in 13 games played in the nation’s capital with a record of 7-1-1-4, excluding the two Takeover Tour games where they served as the home team and won in overtime in Winnipeg and lost in regulation in Calgary. All 24 points were earned in 12 games at TD Place, with one regulation loss at Canadian Tire Centre, surpassing last season’s total of 19 points at the primary home venue. The Charge scored three or more goals in nine of its 12 games at TD Place.
Toronto finished its road schedule with 26 points in 17 games and a record of 8-0-2-7, including two shootout losses in Takeover Tour games played in Halifax and Hamilton, good for six more points than last season. The Sceptres scored more than two goals in just three of those 17 games.
The Sceptres were shut out seven times this season, most in PWHL history.
Toronto’s power play finished seventh in the league at just 10.8% after leading the league last season with a 25.8% efficiency.
Ottawa finished the season with 30 goals in the third period and 33 across the first two periods combined.
Gwyneth Philips became the first goaltender in PWHL history to post two shutout victories with more than 40 saves, previously turning aside a shutout-record 42 against Toronto on Apr. 11. It was the fourth time this season the Charge netminder faced more than 40 shots, bringing her season total to a record 844 shots and 786 saves across a PWHL record 28 games. Her 16 wins brings her career total to 24, fourth all-time, while her five career shutouts are tied for third.
Fanuza Kadirova scored for the third time in four games against Toronto and became the third member of the Charge to reach 10 goals this season and fifth in team history to double digits. The Russian fifth-round pick finished second in goals among her 2025 draft class and never went more than three games without a point, ending her first PWHL campaign with 12 in 28 games.
Sarah Wozniewicz scored for the second time in her last two games against Toronto, finishing her first PWHL season with seven goals and an Ottawa rookie record 13 points in 30 games. The third-round pick’s point total surpasses the 12 amassed by teammate Gabbie Hughes in 24 games during the inaugural season (9G, 3A), and ranks tied for sixth among all PWHL rookies at game’s end.
Alexa Vasko scored her second goal of the season, matching her total in each of the league’s first two seasons, including the inaugural campaign with Toronto. Two of her season’s three points were recorded in her last three games, finishing the year with a career-high 25 shots on goal and 120 faceoff wins. She was on the winning side of the final matchup of the season for a third straight year, competing last season with the Charge and previously as a member of Toronto when they beat Ottawa in 2024.
Brianne Jenner extended her point streak to four games (3G, 4A) with a primary helper to finish her third PWHL season with career highs in all offensive categories. The captain’s 14 assists and 26 points are both team records and her 12 goals rank third behind Rebecca Leslie’s 14 and last season’s leader Tereza Vanišová (15). She also finished with a career-high 80 shots on goal, and third in the league with a career-high 311 faceoff wins on 545 attempts (57.1%), going 11-for-21 today at the dot. In 82 career games, Jenner is the team’s all-time leader with 61 points (28G, 33A).
Michela Cava picked up her fourth assist in her 17th game as a member of the Charge on top of her five points in 13 games with Vancouver to start the season (1G, 4A). Today’s point snapped a seven-game drought for the two-time Walter Cup champion who has not missed a game in her PWHL career with 84 regular-season contests on top of 18 playoff appearances.
Raygan Kirk posted her 17th game with 25 or more saves, tied with Philips for the most in a single season in PWHL history. She limited opponents to two or fewer goals in 15 of her 22 starts, including today, and faced 30 or more shots 13 times. Her goals-against average of 1.87 and save percentage of .934 both rank third among PWHL goaltenders.
Renata Fast led all skaters today with a career-high seven shots on goal for the Sceptres.
Leslie led all Charge skaters today with four shots on goal and finished with a team-high 99, currently the fourth highest total leaguewide.
Emma Maltais went 11-for-19 in the faceoff circle today, finishing the season with new career highs in wins (221) and attempts (422), shattering her previous highs of 73 wins and 122 attempts.
Brooke Hobson returned to the Charge lineup for the first time since Mar. 22, missing the last seven games with an upper-body injury. The defender matched a season-high with three shots on goal.
Emily Clark played in her 84th career regular season game, the only Ottawa player to appear in every one of the team’s games across three full seasons.
Five Sceptres finished the season having played every game in team history: Maltais, Jesse Compher, Maggie Connors, Kali Flanagan and Blayre Turnbull. Savannah Harmon and Emma Woods also reached 84 career games accumulated with two teams each.
Daryl Watts finished as her team’s top goal scorer for the third straight season with 10 in 27 games for Toronto, 12 in 30 games in 2024-25, and 10 in 24 games with Ottawa in 2024.
THREE STARS
1. Gwyneth Philips (OTT) 41/41 SV
2. Fanuza Kadirova (OTT) 1G
3. Brianne Jenner (OTT) 1A
STANDINGS
Ottawa: 44 PTS (9-8-1-12) – 4th Place
Toronto: 38 PTS (10-1-6-13) – 5th Place
UPCOMING SCHEDULES
Ottawa: Thursday, Apr. 30 at Boston OR Saturday May 2 at Montréal