Sunday was a big day for hockey at large. The National Women’s Hockey League debuted stateside with games streaming for free online. The first game of the day featured the New York Riveters visiting the Connecticut Whale in Stamford, Connecticut.
The Riveters, who played a rough and tumble game against the visiting Minnesota Whitecaps during during a preseason game where taking too many penalties was their undoing, took a penalty in the first that lead to a Jessica Koizumi power play goal for the Whale.
Koizumi’s rebound goal in front of the net was the first ever goal scored in the NWHL. It was a pretty historic moment for the former UMD Bulldog who has spent time with the Whitecaps in the WWHL and both the Montreal Stars (now rebranded as Les Canadiennes de Montreal) and the Boston Blades in the CWHL.
Watch her goal, courtesy of @NWHLgifs, below.
It's a powerplay goal for the @CTWhale_NWHL by Jessica Koizumi (@jzumi56) pic.twitter.com/Hu5Jrq9k9u
— NWHL Gifs (@nwhlgifs) October 11, 2015
On the other side of the ice, the Riveters weren’t able to score until the second period when Brooke Ammerman tied the game, scoring the first goal in Riveters history.
Ammerman was arguably the Riveters best player through two preseason games at both ends of the ice.
Watch her goal below.
It's the first @NYRiveters goal from Brooke Ammerman (@bammerman20)! pic.twitter.com/5m7WZTHEAy
— NWHL Gifs (@nwhlgifs) October 11, 2015
In the end the Whale took the game 4-1.
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