Injury could end season for Charge goalie Maschmeyer

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The Ottawa Charge will be without star goalie Emerance Maschmeyer until the end of April, if not longer.

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Maschmeyer, who suffered a lower-body injury in the third period of Tuesday’s win over the Minnesota Frost, has been placed on long-term injury reserve, which means she won’t be able to return for at least three weeks.

The PWHL will be on a break for the Women’s World Championship in Czechia from April 3 to 26, and whether Maschmeyer can get back in the crease for Ottawa’s first game after that on April 30 against Minnesota depends on her recovery.

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“We don’t know, to be honest,” Charge GM Mike Hirshfeld said Friday morning when asked if he thought Maschmeyer could get back in the crease before the conclusion of the regular season on May 3. “It’s to be determined. It depends on the course of treatment and how it goes. We’ve got the world championship break for three weeks next month, so she won’t play for Team Canada, and we’ll see where we are towards the end of April.”

For depth purposes, the Charge has signed Lucy Morgan, who had been on the Frost’s reserve player list for most of the season.

She will serve as third-stringer behind PWHL rookies Gywneth Philips and Logan Angers.

Maschmeyer has been Ottawa’s most valuable player and one of the top goalies in the PWHL’s two seasons.

This season, the 30-year-old Albertan has appeared in 18 of the Charge’s 22 games, compiling a 2.58 goals-against average and .913 save percentage.

On Tuesday she became the first PWHL goalie to record 1,000 saves — just before she bent awkwardly to stop a shot and needed to be assisted to the dressing room.

“She’s a huge part of our team, of our organization,” Hirshfeld said. “We’re obviously going to miss her and feel terrible she’s having to go through this.”

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Philips, a third-round pick in last year’s draft, will assume the No. 1 role.

In five decisions to date this season, she has three regulation-time wins along with the team’s only shutout, and she also picked up a single point in an overtime loss.

The 25-year-old from Athens, Ohio, who is also a member of the U.S. national squad, boasts a 2.29 goals-against average and .908 save percentage.

“This is where we’re thrilled to have Gwyneth,” Hirshfeld said. “It’s exactly why we drafted her, to have to cover in this situation. We feel that she’s capable of stepping in and playing at a very high level.”

Morgan, 23, is a product of the University of Minnesota, where last season she finished her collegiate career with a 15-3 record along with a 1.65 goals-against average and .931 save percentage.

The North Dakota native has played one PWHL game, making 29 saves in the Frost’s 5-0 loss to the New York Sirens on Jan. 4.

“She’s someone that we thought about when we were preparing for the draft, so we’ve done a bunch of work on her,” Hirshfeld said. “We know we know her game, and she’s going to come in as the third goalie behind Logan, just to give us some depth and give some competition to Logan for that backup goalie job.”

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Angers, an undrafted 6-foot, 25-year-old from Winnipeg, played for Quinnipiac University from 2018-to 2024.

She was signed by the Charge before this season.

“When we did our evaluations. We thought she was the best available goalie in the free agent class,” Hirshfeld said. “She’s come a long way this year, working with Pierre (Groulx, the team’s goalie coach) and learning from Masch, so she’s come a long way. We feel comfortable she can play in this league, I have no doubt about it. This is her chance.”

Expect to see Philips between the pipes on Saturday, when the Charge play host to the Boston Fleet in an important 2 p.m. tilt at TD Place.

With eight games remaining, Ottawa sits in fifth place, five points behind both Boston and Minnesota and six behind the second-place Toronto Sceptres.

The Charge has played the same number of games as Boston, but has two games in hand on the Frost and one on the Sceptres.

The top four teams qualify for the playoffs. Even with three points being awarded for regulation-time wins, it’s unlikely anyone will catch the first place Montreal Victoire.

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