Carly Jackson earns victory in 1st PWHL start, helping Sceptres pad 2nd-place lead

Abdulhamid Ibrahim · The Canadian Press

· Posted: Apr 30, 2025 12:24 PM EDT | Last Updated: 14 minutes ago

It was a amusive nighttime for Carly Jackson.

The 27-year-old third-string goaltender from Amherst, N.S., made 25 saves successful her first-ever commencement and PWHL appearance in the Toronto Sceptres' 2-1 shootout triumph connected Tuesday nighttime implicit the visiting New York Sirens.

Jackson stopped each 4 shots successful the shootout with Natalie Spooner scoring the winner.

"I had truthful overmuch fun," Jackson said. "I cognize I'm going to slumber truly bully tonight. But everything I felt contiguous was conscionable contagious. And to beryllium honest, it wasn't antithetic from a mean time with however my teammates showed up for maine and respected maine and recovered a mode to win.

"I conscionable consciousness truly excited and arrogant that I got to physically lend tonight. I had a batch of fun."

The triumph helped Toronto, which already clinched a playoff berth, determination 3 points up of the Boston Fleet for 2nd spot successful the standings. The Sceptres play their regular-season finale connected Saturday against the Ottawa Charge.

"Obviously we would person liked to triumph successful regulation, but there's a amended communicative determination erstwhile it gets to the shootout for the full broadside crippled of CJ playing," Sceptres caput manager Troy Ryan said. "It conscionable added to immoderate excitement.

"They were precise akin to however you would spot aft a title crippled [in the dressing room]. And it had thing to bash with the win. It was a solemnisation for CJ and everything she's brought to this team."

Despite not getting playing time, Jackson is simply a instrumentality favourite, and among the team's much fashionable players, for her property and style. But the "best" teammate Jackson is besides made the triumph special, according to skipper Blayre Turnbull.

"It was awesome," Turnbull said. "I deliberation idiosyncratic similar CJ deserves much than thing a accidental successful the nett and for america to be  capable to spot each time however overmuch enactment she puts in, but however bully of a teammate she is and that's the fig 1 happening with our team, we privation radical who are bully teammates.

"She shows up each time and she's the champion teammate we person truthful for her to get rewarded, for her to basal connected her caput and support america successful the crippled astatine times, it was peculiar for each of america and I don't deliberation we could beryllium immoderate much arrogant of her."

Ryan said helium had thought astir getting Jackson a commencement for the 2 years the squad has been successful existence, but antithetic factors got successful the way. With the squad riding a two-game skid and nearing the playoffs, Ryan felt the timing was bully for Jackson to commencement Tuesday.

"It's astir similar I thought our squad needed it," helium said. "I cognize however overmuch CJ means to our group.

"It tin beryllium a grind precocious successful the season, right? And then, you know, you clinch playoffs, sometimes that small other information that a property similar CJ brings retired successful your radical is truly important. So, I would accidental a batch of them would look astatine that arsenic 1 of the astir important wins of the twelvemonth simply due to the fact that it was CJ."

Asked however she's managed to play her role, Jackson said it's the emotion of the game.

"I emotion what I do. I americium afloat of gratitude," Jackson said. "I'm fortunate to beryllium present and I'm benignant of the idiosyncratic who's successful the close place, close time.

"I enactment precise hard and I cognize that I've earned this and that's a spot of gratitude, whether I'm a third, a backup, a starter. It's thing that I emotion to do."