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New York Sirens Start Strong with Home Opener Victory
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- New York Sirens Start Strong with Home Opener Victory
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NEWARK —The New York Sirens treated their home fans to a show on Saturday, defeating the Vancouver Goldeneyes 5-1 at the Prudential Center in their 2025-26 home opener.
Sirens goaltender Kayle Osborne stopped 20 of 21 shots, and New York's offense did the rest. Five different skaters bested Goldeneyes goalie Kristen Campbell, as the Sirens tilted the ice early and never let up — a picture-perfect way to set the tone on home ice.
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"I think [it's] incredibly important for the group of players in the locker room this year to be able to come out and play to our identity right from the start," coach Greg Fargo said postgame. "I think there's a lot of excitement about our group, but to be able to put it on display today in front of our home crowd for the first time was extra special."
The Sirens (2-0-0-1) opened the season with a pair of road games. New York shut out the Ottawa Charge 4-0 in the season opener last Saturday. But the Sirens were blanked by the same score Tuesday by the MOntreal Victoire.
New York took the ice without a key piece on the back end. Alternate captain Jaime Bourbonnais was scratched with a lower-body injury, missing the first game of her three-season PWHL career.
Meanwhile, Vancouver's star center Sarah Nurse was sidelined for a second consecutive game with an upper-body injury.
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In place of Bourbonnais, rookie defender Nicole Vallario made her PWHL debut and promptly opened the scoring with a sharp wrist shot at 4:11 of the first period.
Sarah Fillier extended the lead to 2-0 with her first tally of the season, jamming in a rebound off a shot from rookie Anne Cherkowski at 18:31 of the first. Cherkowski (No. 9 overall 2025) and Casey O'Brien (No. 3 overall 2025) were credited with the assists — their first points in the PWHL.
New York picked up right where it left off to begin the second period.
Fifty-five seconds into the frame, Paetyn Levis cleaned up a long shot by Jincy Roese that filtered in front of the net, sitting perfectly for the second-year forward to slide it in.
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The Goldeneyes had a chance to shift momentum after an interference penalty called against Levis at 9:35. But Kristin O'Neill quickly shut that down, springing free on a short-handed breakaway and to beat Campbell with a shifty backhand deke at 10:19. The jailbreak goal put an abrupt end to the Vancouver power play, halting it just 44 seconds in.
All-Star defender Sophie Jaques ended Osborne's shutout bid at 5:23 of the third period, cutting the home team's lead to 4-1 with a blistering shot from the point.
A bit more than three minutes later, No. 1 overall pick Kristyna Kaltounkova dashed any dreams of a Vancouver comeback. The Sirens prized rookie scooped up a loose puck in the slot and sniped a wrister over the blocker of Campbell — her first PWHL goal and New York's fifth and final tally.
Cherkowski (two assists) and Levis (one goal, one assist) each had two assists, and 11 different Sirens ended up on the score sheet.
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Key takeaways after Sirens' home-opener win
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1. Rookie circuit
With an average age of 24.91, New York's active roster is the youngest in the PWHL. That youth helped power the Sirens to their first win on home ice.
Kaltounkova's quick shot finally found nylon, but she was noticeable throughout, once again showcasing great strength on the puck and resilience around the net. And while it's yet to be reflected in the official stat line, Kaltounkova got a stick on Roese's shot in the second period, setting the puck up perfectly for Levis to drive it in. If the League makes the change, it'll go down as her first multi-point game.
Meanwhile, O'Brien and Cherkowski played active roles on New York's top forward line, sustaining pressure throughout the game. The rookie duo set up Fillier's first-period goal, and Cherkowski earned the primary assist on O'Neill's jailbreak score.
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"I think we came out right off the jump and took it to them, and the results showed," O'Brien said postgame. "We've had a lot of fun playing together — I think all of us — and it's just going to keep clicking as we keep playing more."
2. Top six breaks through
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Despite a PWHL-leading 75 shots on goal, the Sirens were shut out in five of six periods through two games. That's partially due to a top-six forward group that had yet to score a goal.
They made up for it and then some Saturday. New York's top-six forwards accounted for three of their four goals at even strength, and kept the Goldeneyes on their heels throughout the day.
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"We weren't worried about the ones not going in," O'Brien reflected after the win. "It's the chances that count. Eventually, even more are gonna go in."
Though Fargo was pleased with the quality of chances to open the season, he called for more tenacity around the net ahead of the home opener. The Sirens answered the bell. Both Fillier's and Levy's tallies came from strong net-front play, and Kaltounkova's strike was another product of relentless play in between the circles.
"I thought we did a much better job in a lot of areas tonight, but especially around their net," Fargo explained. "I haven't been around a long time, but enough that if you want to score, that's where you've got to go."
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The bulk of New York's scoring talent is isolated in the top six, so they'll need to maintain that success throughout the season.
3. Vallario steps up
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Bourbonnais's absence cannot be overstated. The 27-year-old defender is an alternate captain , provides stability on the back end, and is one of the Sirens' best puck-movers from the blue line.
They'll be happy to get their alternate captain back on the ice as soon as possible, but Vallario made sure New York didn't skip a beat on Saturday.
The 24-year-old's first-period goal gave the Sirens an early edge, and she played a responsible game in the defensive zone, helping New York shut down a potent Vancouver offense.
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"First shift, first shot. Not a bad way to start," chuckled Fargo. "She's been really steady. When you look at her game overall, she skates really well, she defends well, she's a good puck mover. For all those reasons, she earned her spot in our lineup."
Fargo declined to put a timeline on Bourbonnais, who is dealing with a nagging lower-body issue. The Sirens anticipate she'll return soon, although that doesn't necessarily mean she'll dress on Wednesday, when New York visits the Seattle Torrent.
If Bourbonnais remains out, you can expect Vallario to slide into the lineup once again.
"The kind of contribution that she did tonight against a tough lineup, I think she deserves a lot of credit," praised Fargo. "I imagine her confidence is going to continue to grow, and ours in her. Excited to see what could become of her time with us."
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4. Sirens intend to change narrative on home ice
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Of the many issues that plagued the last-place Sirens in 2024-25, struggles at home were particularly devastating.
New York was 2-3-2-8 on home ice last season — a .311 points percentage that was worst in the PWHL and a full 100 points below the next-worst team.
The Sirens are intent on changing that this season, and Saturday was a good start.
"We weren't as strong here as we wanted to be last year," Fargo noted. "So I think it was really important for us to set the bar really high. Our fan base is a really important part of what we're building here. This is home, and we love playing here, so we wanted to show them what we're made of this year."
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New York travels west for back-to-back road games against Seattle and Vancouver, before returning home to host the Boston Fleet on Dec. 17.
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