Willoughby, Abstreiter shine in Victoire’s 3-0 win over Charge

OTTAWA — Sandra Abstreiter made 39 saves to pick up her first shutout in the Professional Women’s Hockey League and led the Montreal Victoire to a 3-0 win over the Ottawa Charge Friday night.

Kaitlin Willoughby, with two goals, and Abby Roque scored for the Victoire (14-4-2-5), who moved into first place in the eight-team PWHL.

Gwyneth Philips stopped 23 shots for the Charge.

The Charge (6-7-1-11) returned to Ottawa after playing a record six straight games on the road and even Friday’s game wasn’t officially on home ice.

The Charge took over the Canadian Tire Centre and welcomed its largest crowd of the season (17,114), but even that wasn’t enough to help them out.

The Victoire have already clinched a playoff spot while the Charge (6-7-1-10) are fighting to get into the final playoff position.

Ottawa sits one point back of the Toronto Sceptres. Both teams have five games remaining and will square off twice before the end of the regular season.

Trailing 2-0, Ottawa had a great chance early in the third when Emily Clark put a shot on goal and the rebound lay in the crease but no Charge player was close enough to get to it in time.

Willoughby scored her second into an empty net with 42.2 seconds remaining to ice the game.

The Charge had a flurry of chances early in the second but couldn’t find a way to capitalize.

Peyton Hemp had back-to-back chances and came up short. And less than a minute later Montreal broke in on a two-on-one that ended with Willoughby beating Philips high blocker side for her first of the season. Abstreiter picked up an assist on the play.

Montreal made it 2-0 scoring on the power play. Laura Stacey found Abby Roque breaking in alone after getting behind Ottawa’s defence to tip a shot past Philips.

There were chances at both ends of the ice, but the game remained scoreless after the opening 20 minutes. Ottawa’s Sarah Wozniewicz believed she had scored at the 16-minute mark but upon review it was determined the puck never fully crossed the line. Wozniewicz also hit the post earlier in the period.

TAKEAWAYS

Charge: Ottawa generated lots of shots but too many of them were easy for Abstreiter to see.

Victoire: Montreal was able to get in close on Philips and it was the difference in the action-packed game.

KEY STAT

Montreal’s victory Friday was its 50th in regular-season history.

UP NEXT

Victoire: Host the Seattle Torrent on Tuesday.

Charge: Host the Seattle Torrent on Wednesday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 3, 2026.