With first puck drop closing in Saturday afternoon at Xcel Energy Center, goaltender Lucy Morgan was set to watch her second game in a Frost uniform from the bench, serving as Nicole Hensley’s backup against the New York Sirens.
Goaltender Maddie Rooney was set to watch the game from the comfort of her Hugo home, missing her second straight game due to illness.
Plans change.
The already short-handed Frost, playing without six regulars due to injury, illness and suspension, fell to the Sirens 5-0 with Morgan making her PWHL debut.
Injured during warmups, Hensley was unable to play, forcing Morgan — a former Gopher — into the starting lineup just days after being elevated from the Frost’s reserve list due to Rooney’s illness.
Corinne Schroeder #30 and Gabby Rosenthal #15 of the New York Sirens defend against Kendall Coyne Schofield #26 of the Minnesota Frost in the first period at Xcel Energy Center on Jan. 04, 2025 in St Paul, Minnesota. (Photo by David Berding/Getty Images)
Rooney was summoned to the rink when it was determined the Hensley couldn’t play and arrived after the start of the game to serve as Morgan’s backup. Rooney took a seat on the Frost bench midway through the first period.
Given everything his team has already been through, Frost head coach Ken Klee said that, yes, it was a bit surreal when Hensley left the ice during warmups with a lower-body injury.
“When it rains it pours I guess,” Klee said. “We just rolled with it. We had to call Maddie at home and tell her to get here. It’s just one of those things; it’s pro hockey and crazy stuff happens.”
It added to a growing list of injuries for the Frost.
An upper-body injury is expected to keep winger Grace Zumwinkle out of the lineup for approximately three weeks. Zumwinkle was injured during the first period of the Frost’s 4-3 overtime win over Boston on Thursday. She joins defender Sophie Jacques and forward Dominique Petrie on the injured list.
“Talking to the doctors, they were happy it wasn’t going to be longer,” Klee said.
The Frost also were without center Britta Curl-Salemme, who was suspended one game for a high-sticking penalty on Thursday. Curl-Salemme, who was assessed a minor penalty, went on to score in overtime against Boston.
Klee said he was surprised that Curl-Salemme was suspended.
“I know that the league is trying to set a precedent that if they deem it a dangerous play, they are going to crack down on it,” he said. “They’re setting the precedent. So, in my mind, they better be watching every game, watching every hit, watching every penalty.
“That’s the message that I’m giving the team, that they are going to be watching.”
Klee said this is the most short-handed his team has been since its inception.
“When you take out the number of forwards and ‘D’ and sickness up and down the lineup, we didn’t face anything like this year,” he said.
Taylor Heise returned to the Frost lineup after missing the last game due to illness, but she said she was less than 100%.
“You just have to go out there and play for your teammates,” Heise said. “It wasn’t my best, but come back the next game and figure it out. I wasn’t quite sure (if she could play) when I woke up this morning, but if you look at our team there a lot of sick people.
“If you put a microphone in there, you would hear a lot of couching and sneezing. But at the end of the day, it’s an illness, it’s not going to kill you.”
Morgan, sporting a Gophers mask, surrendered a goal on the Sirens’ first shot on goal, a seemingly harmless shot that found the back of the net at 1:10 of the first period. But Morgan settled down after that, and the Frost trailed only 1-0 after the first 20 minutes.
The Sirens scored a pair of power-play goals in the second period to take a 3-0 lead.
“Outside of giving up the first goal, I thought the first period we played really well,” Klee said. “We had a lot of chances, we’ve just got to find a way to find the back of the net. Then to me, it’s a different game.
“Kudos to them, they did a good job of not letting us get on the board to get going.”
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