Lucy Morgan's Debut Highlights the Challenge Of Being A Third-String Goalie

The role of a third-string goalie is tricky because they rarely see the ice but must be ready at a moment's notice. Lucy Morgan expected to back up Nicole Hensley during the Minnesota Frost’s January 4th game against the New York Sirens. However, Hensley suffered a lower-body injury during warmups, and the Frost gave Morgan her first chance to defend their net. 

Morgan played 4 seasons at St. Lawrence before playing her final collegiate season in Minnesota with the Gophers.

The Frost have been alternating Hensley and Maddie Rooney so far this season but pulled Morgan up from reserves on January 2nd because Rooney caught norovirus. After Hensley’s injury, Rooney was called from home to dress as a backup. 

NHL teams usually carry 2 goalies and call up an AHL affiliate team goalie when needed. They also have an emergency backup goalie (EBUG) in the stands. Since the PWHL doesn’t have affiliate teams, they operate a bit differently. Every team can carry 26 players, 23 signed to a Standard Player Agreement, and 3 on a reserve roster. The reserve players practice with the team, so the reserve players should be just as prepared to play in a game. 

While every other PWHL team signed 3 goalies to an SPA, the Frost kept Morgan on the reserve list. Morgan signed a 10-day SPA to play in the game against the Sirens. The goalie said she had “never expected to play” this season, and suddenly becoming a starter took her by surprise. 

Unfortunately, the game did not go how Morgan would’ve liked. The first puck got past her just 1:10 seconds into the game. 

Sirens forward Jessie Eldrige took a shot on net from the outside hash marks, which deflected off Minnesota defenseman Natalie Buchbinder’s skate, resulting in a New York goal. Despite the goal being an unlucky bounce, this was a tough way for Morgan and the Frost to start the game. 

The early goal set the tone for the rest of the game.

Morgan bounced back with an incredible save and finished the period 1-0:

With 13:16 left in the second, the Sirens snuck in a back door power play goal:

And they scored another powerplay goal with less than a minute left in the second:

 Sirens forward Alex Carpenter took the shot from the top of the circle. Morgan made the initial save, but the puck bounced and trickled in. This goal highlights that Morgan could improve her game by better controlling her rebounds. Other goalies would likely have saved that shot. 

1:50 into the third period, New York netted their fourth goal on Morgan off a fast rebound: 

Finally, the last goal with 32 seconds left in the game from another backdoor pass:

Besides the 3rd goal, these were all difficult shots to defend, and they all went unanswered by Minnesota. A 5-0 game is an outlier result between these two teams. In their previous 3 games, the Sirens and the Frost have gone into overtime, with Minnesota securing the win 2 out of 3 times. Considering how close these teams were in previous matchups, it felt like Morgan’s teammates allowed high-danger shots against her. 

The Sirens did an excellent job being in the right spot for a rebound or a back-door pass, and the Frost left players around the net multiple times. Two of the goals were on the penalty kill, making it harder for Minnesota to pick up the goalscorer. However, on the last two, the Frost had enough players back to defend, but the Minnesota defensemen didn’t use their numbers and left Siren players wide open. 

Minnesota had some scoring opportunities but ultimately didn’t capitalize on them. New York tendy Corinne Schroeder undoubtedly played a great game. Still, Minnesota had no problem putting 4 pucks past her when the teams met in late November and another 3 during their early December match-up. 

However, the Frost dealt with more than goalie trouble this game. Taylor Heise played but missed previous games due to illness. Grace Zumwinkle was missing from the lineup due to a shoulder injury, and Britta Curl-Salemme was suspended for a dangerous hit. 

Ultimately, Minnesota was shorthanded,in tough shape and it showed on the scoreboard.
Frost GM Melissa Caruso recognized the difficulty of the situation, expressing that “[Morgan] had a tough job to do. She handled it really well.”

Overall, Morgan played a solid 60 minutes, considering she had less than an hour to prepare mentally and did not get the best defensive support. She’ll likely get another opportunity to prove herself and hopefully show how competitive she can be in the PWHL.