By: Alexis Caines | Follow me on Twitter/X @alexiscaines_
It’s official: the Boston Fleet are set to play the Ottawa Charge in the 2026 Walter Cup Playoffs. The best-of-five series is slated to begin Thursday, April 30th at the Tsongas Center in Lowell, MA.
Boston was 1-0-1-2 in their regular-season series with Ottawa. Each of the four games went into overtime or a shootout. Ottawa narrowly outscored them, 9-7.
The Charge’s stellar goaltending will likely be the biggest challenge for the Fleet. Gwyneth Philips has proven she can show up in big moments, winning the Ilana Kloss Playoff MVP last season despite her team’s loss. In Ottawa’s final game of the regular season, in which it was “do or die” for a playoff berth, Philips put up a 41-save shutout.
Boston will have to keep firing pucks on net, and they’ll need to be high danger, in order to sneak one past Philips. They’ll need to get past their one-goal games and focus on getting as much offensive depth as possible.
Ottawa has the third-best power play, a 17.8% during the regular season. The Fleet have struggled on their advantages this season, only recording a 14.0%. But on the other end of the spectrum, the Fleet have the second-best penalty kill, and Ottawa holds sixth.
The Fleet have some good luck in the form of forward, Liz Schepers. Schepers played her first two seasons with the Minnesota Frost and scored the Walter Cup clinching goal in each of their two championship wins, last year scoring it on Philips. This makes her the only player in PWHL history to ever score a championship-clinching goal. She signed a two-year deal with the Fleet in June 2025.
The Fleet will need Aerin Frankel at her absolute best. The nearly even goals-scored in the regular season series prove just how important her role is. Every save matters, especially when it comes to outperforming Philips across from her. The two were goalie partners at Northeastern University for three seasons and participated in numerous tournaments for Team USA.
The Boston blueliners will also need to play their best in front of Frankel. Ahead of their regular-season finale, they announced that they had signed defender Noemi Neubauerová to a standard player agreement. She had previously been added to the reserve list and then signed a 10-day contract on April 15th, before becoming a regular roster player on April 25th. In a corresponding move, they returned Mia Biotti to the reserve list. Nebubauerová was on a d-pair with Fleet teammate Daniela Pejšová at the 2026 Milano Cortina Olympics for Team Czech. This chemistry is a big plus for the Fleet heading into the postseason.
The keys to the Boston Fleet winning this series against the Ottawa Charge will be special teams, offensive presence, and goaltending. If the Fleet can keep Ottawa scoreless on their power-play, that will be a big momentum swing. It’s been a long season, but Frankel has shown no signs of slowing down. The defensive corps will need to hold strong and minimize traffic in front of her.
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