Stecklein stars as the Frost beat the Sceptres 5-3 in Game 2 of their PWHL playoff series

TORONTO (AP) — Lee Stecklein had two goals and an assist to help the Minnesota Frost beat the Toronto Sceptres 5-3 on Friday night in Game 2 of their first-round playoff series.

Sophie Jacques, who hails from Toronto, snapped a 3-3 tie when she beat Sceptres goalie Kristin Campbell off the rush with 6:13 left to play. Mellissa Channell-Watkins added a power-play goal with 71 seconds remaining.

The Frost bounced back nicely after losing 3-2 in Game 1 on Wednesday night. Game 3 of the best-of-five PWHL semifinal series is at Minnesota on Sunday night.

Michela Cava also scored for the defending champion Frost. Maddie Rooney made 27 saves.

Hayley Scamurra, Savanah Harmon and Allie Munroe scored for the Sceptres. Campbell stopped 20 shots.

The Sceptres grabbed a 1-0 lead on Scamurra’s shot from the side boards that deflected off Channell-Watkins in the first period.

Minnesota roared back with three goals to begin the second period, including a power-play marker from Stecklein. But the Sceptres tied the game on late-period goals from Harmon on the power play and Munroe from a bad angle on the next shift.

Frost: The PWHL handed forward Britta Curl-Salemme a one-game suspension for her second-period head check on Toronto defender Renata Fast.

Sceptres: Coach Troy Ryan added rookie defender Rylind MacKinnon in favor of forward Laura Kluge.

Tennis trailblazer Billie Jean King was among the 7,659 at Coca-Cola Coliseum. The 81-year-old Hall of Famer received a lengthy standing ovation during a timeout midway through the second period for her part in helping launch the PWHL last year.

Harmon and Munroe scored 27 seconds apart late in the second period to pull Toronto even.

The series moves to Minnesota for Game 3.

AP Women’s Hockey: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-hockey

Toronto Sceptres' Allie Munroe, second from left, celebrates with teammates after scoring against the Minnesota Frost during second-period PWHL playoff hockey game action in Toronto, Friday, May 9, 2025. (Chris Young/The Canadian Press via AP)

Toronto Sceptres' Blayre Turnbull, left, trips over the stick of Minnesota Frost goaltender Maddie Rooney during second-period PWHL playoff hockey game action in Toronto, Friday, May 9, 2025. (Chris Young/The Canadian Press via AP)

Toronto Sceptres goaltender Kristen Campbell (50) makes a save against Minnesota Frost's Taylor Heise (27) during third-period PWHL playoff hockey game action in Toronto, Friday, May 9, 2025. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)

Minnesota Frost players celebrate after a goal by Lee Stecklein (2) against the Toronto Sceptres during second-period PWHL playoff hockey game action in Toronto, Friday, May 9, 2025. (Chris Young/The Canadian Press via AP)

Minnesota Frost's Michela Cava (86) celebrates after scoring against the Toronto Sceptres during second-period PWHL playoff hockey game action in Toronto, Friday, May 9, 2025. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)

MUMBAI, India (AP) — Shreyas Iyer was provisionally named in India’s squad on Saturday for the home one-day international series against New Zealand starting Jan. 11.

India will host the Black Caps in a white-ball engagement — three ODIs and five T20s — in the build-up to the 2026 T20 World Cup.

Iyer returns to the international fold after sustaining a spleen injury during an ODI against Australia in Sydney last October.

His selection is subject to fitness clearance from BCCI’s medical team and he will return as India’s vice-captain for the three-match series.

Skipper Shubman Gill also returns, after he missed the ODI series against South Africa in December. He had a neck spasm in the test series earlier, and subsequently played in the T20s against the Proteas.

Ruturaj Gaikwad and Tilak Verma missed out. Gaikwad had scored a maiden ODI hundred against South Africa in Visakhapatnam.

Rishabh Pant is retained as second keeper-batter behind Lokesh Rahul, who had stood in as captain against the Proteas.

Star batters Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma had both participated in the domestic List A tournament — Vijay Hazare Trophy — and return to the international stage for the ODIs.

All-rounder Hardik Pandya is fit, but not sufficiently enough to bowl 10 overs in an ODI. Thus, he has been rested further ahead of the 2026 T20 World Cup (in India and Sri Lanka) starting Feb. 7. Nitish Kumar Reddy is included in the squad.

Pacer Mohammed Siraj returns to lead the bowling lineup with Jasprit Bumrah rested again. Siraj had missed the South Africa series because of workload management.

The three ODIs will be played in Vadodara (Jan. 11), Rajkot (Jan. 14) and Indore (Jan. 18), with the five-match T20 series starting Jan. 21.

Squad: Shubman Gill (captain), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Washington Sundar, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj, Harshit Rana, Prasidh Krishna, Kuldeep Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Arshdeep Singh, Yashasvi Jaiswal.

AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket

FILE - Captain of Punjab Kings Shreyas Iyer addresses a news conference on the eve of the final match of Indian Premier League at Narendra Modi stadium in Ahmedabad, India, Monday, June 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki, File)