The Connecticut Whale beat the Minnesota Whitecaps for their sixth straight win on Sunday to close out the regular season. (Jonathan Sawn/Connecticut Whale)
Three goals in the final period lifted the Connecticut Whale to a 3-1 win over the Minnesota Whitecaps Sunday on the final day of the Premier Hockey Federation’s regular season in Richfield, Minnesota
The Whale (14-8-2) finished the campaign with six straight wins — its longest winning streak of the season — while the Whitecaps lost for the eighth straight time.
Still, both teams are heading to the PHF playoffs. Connecticut earned the No. 3 seed and will begin a best-of-3 semifinal series with Toronto on Friday afternoon. All three games will be Toronto. No. 4 Minnesota (10-11-3) will face top-seeded Boston beginning on Thursday at Bentley College.
Rachel Ade and Hannah Bates scored for Connecticut with Janine Weber adding an empty net goal in the final 15 seconds.
Whale forward Kennedy Marchment got an assist on that final goal to extend her PHF record to 18 games with at least one point in a game. Marchment ended the season a team-leading 17 goals and 18 assists for a team-record 35 points.
“We’re treating this like a playoff weekend because regardless of who we play in the first round it’s going to be a trip with travel so getting into that mindset is really going to benefit us,“ Marchment said.
Merri Raisanen made 25 saves in net to earn the win for Connecticut.
Connecticut 3, Minnesota 1
At Richfield, Minnesota
Connecticut (14-8-2) 0 0 3 — 3
Minnesota (10-11-3) 0 0 1 — 1
First period
No scoring; Penalties – Emma Keenan (CT) tripping, 2:27; Melissa Samoskevich (CT) delay of game, 18:16
Second period
No scoring; Penalties – Anna Klein (M), hooking, 5:52; Taylor Girard (CT), tripping, 10:49
Third period
Connecticut 1, Rachel Ade (Lenka Serdar, Alyssa Wohlfeiler), 3:05; Connecticut 2, Hannah Bates (Amanda Conway, Janka Hlinka), 10:11; Minnesota 1, Liz Schepers (Amanda Boulier) 12:58; Connecticut 3, Janine Weber (Kennedy Marchment, Emma Keenan), 18:45 (empty net); Penalties – Ashleigh Brykaluk (M) hooking, 3:20; Taylor Wentz (M) delay of game, 10:11
Goalies – Merri Raisanen (CT) 25 saves; Amanda Leveille (M) 41 saves; Shots: Connecticut 44 (11-14-19), Minnesota 26 (9-10-7). Power plays: Minnesota 0-3, Connecticut 0-3
2023 PHF final standings
| Team | W-L-OTL | Pts. | RW | OTW | SOW | GF-GA | |
| x-Boston | 19-4-1 | 54 | 15 | 3 | 1 | 92-52 | |
| x-Toronto | 17-5-2 | 51 | 15 | 1 | 1 | 87-62 | |
| x-Connecticut | 14-8-2 | 43 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 83-66 | |
| x-Minnesota | 10-11-3 | 33 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 58-66 | |
| Metropolitan | 11-13-0 | 30 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 64-79 | |
| Montreal | 8-14-2 | 23 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 56-70 | |
| Buffalo | 5-16-3 | 18 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 50-95 | |
| x-clinched playoff berth Regular season completed |
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| Teams earn 3 points for a win, 2 points for an OT or shootout win and 1 point for an OT or shootout loss | |||||||
| Sunday’s results Connecticut 3, Minnesota 1 Toronto 5, Boston 4 |
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| Saturday’s results Connecticut 3, Minnesota 0 Metropolitan 3, Buffalo 2 Boston 3, Toronto 2 Friday’s result Metropolitan 5, Buffalo 2 |
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2023 PHF playoffs
Semifinals (best-of-3)
Thursday, March 16
Minnesota at Boston (Bentley College), 7 p.m.
Friday March 17
Connecticut at Toronto, 3 p.m.
Saturday, March 18
Connecticut at Toronto, 2 p.m.
Minnesota at Boston (Bentley College), 6 p.m.
Sunday, March 19
Minnesota at Boston (Bentley College), 6 p.m., if necessary
Monday, March 20
Connecticut at Toronto, 6 p.m., if necessary
Sunday, March 26
Isobel Cup championship
Two semifinal winners, 9 p.m. at Arizona State University
