Liz Schepers' OT goal gives Frost their second straight PWHL Walter Cup with 2-1 win over Charge

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — The Walter Cup is staying in Minnesota and the defending champion Frost once again have Liz Schepers to credit for scoring the championship-clinching goal for a second straight year.

Schepers converted a scramble in front to score 12 minutes into overtime and seal a 2-1 victory over the Ottawa Charge to clinch the title in Game 4 of the best-of-five championship series and close the PWHL's second season.

“Hats off to Ottawa. That was a helluva series," Schepers said. "I could not be more proud of our team. It’s unbelievable.”

All four games of the series were decided by 2-1 scores, and each of them in overtime, including the Frost’s triple-OT victory in Game 3 on Saturday. After losing Game 1 in Ottawa, the Frost responded with three straight wins.

Kelly Pannek scored at the 10:10 mark of the second period, giving Minnesota its first lead in regulation of the series. Maddie Rooney stopped 33 shots and finished the playoffs with a 5-0 record.

Katy Knoll, whose overtime goal sealed Game 3, set up the winner by collecting the puck along the end boards and driving behind the net to feed Schepers in the slot. Goaltender Gwyneth Philips parried the first shot, but Schepers poked home the rebound.

“It was just the start of my shift. I knew Katy and Hymla (Klara Hymlarova) were working really hard behind the goal line and just tried to get lost,” Schepers said. “They made a great play to the front of the net and I was able to get a couple whacks at it and saw the puck go in. And then I was on my back and the celebration was on.”

Schepers, who is from Mound, Minnesota, and played collegiately at Ohio State, was one of 16 Frost players who retuned from last year’s championship team, and this time got the opportunity to celebrate before their home crowd. Minnesota won the inaugural Walter Cup last year with Schepers scoring the opening goal of a 3-0 win at Boston in Game 5.

“I'll win anywhere. It's always fun,” said Frost defenseman Lee Stecklein in a game played in front of an announced crowd of 11,024. “But to get to do it at home is extra special.”

And just like last year, the Frost won the title as the fourth and final-seeded playoff team, and both times advanced to the finals after knocking off Toronto in the semis.

Minnesota sneaked into the playoffs this year with an 8-1 win over Boston on the final day of the regular season. The win led to Ottawa, Minnesota and Boston finishing with 44 points each with the Fleet eliminated based on having fewer regulation wins.

“It’s the belief we have in the room,” Frost captain Kendall Coyne Schofield said of the team’s resilience.

“It’s hard to put into words,” she added. “I think when you look at the way we won, it takes everybody. That was last year, and this year was no different. ... It took every single player stepping up in some way, shape, or form.”

The Charge, Canada’s first team to reach the finals, forced overtime on Tereza Vanisova’s goal with 9:51 left in the third period. It was her first goal of the playoffs and ended an 11-game goal drought.

Philips finished with 36 saves and was won the Ilana Kloss Trophy as playoff MVP. The rookie finished the playoffs with a 4-4 record, with all four losses coming in overtime. She finished with 148 saves in overtime alone, while allowing just 13 goals on 270 shots for a .952 save percentage and 1.23 goals-against average.

“Right now the individual award is superseded by the team loss,” Philips said. “We were so close and we really wanted that, but my accomplishments are attributed to the players in front of me. So maybe tomorrow will be nicer, but I really wanted to win.”

The rookie from Ohio took over the starting duties after Emerance Maschmeyer was sidelined by a lower body injury in mid-March.

Both teams had their chances in the extra period.

Ottawa’s Aneta Tejralova, on a rush, hit the left post with a shot about five minutes into overtime and the Frost’s Taylor Heise hit the right post about four minutes later.

Both teams face major changes entering the offseason as each of the PWHL’s six teams will lose four players in the expansion process — a signing period followed by an expansion draft — in early June when Vancouver and Seattle begin building their initial rosters.

"I think that’s the toughest part," Charge captain Brianne Jenner said, referring to the upcoming losses. “That was a special run. And it’s going to sting for a while, for sure. But really, really proud of this group.”

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

Ottawa Charge players react after losing Game 4 of the PWHL hockey finals in overtime to the Minnesota Frost Monday, May 26, 2025, in St. Paul, Minn. (AP Photo/Ellen Schmidt)

Minnesota Frost forward Liz Schepers (21) accepts applause after scoring the winning goal to defeat the Ottawa Charge in Game 4 of the PWHL hockey finals Monday, May 26, 2025, in St. Paul, Minn. (AP Photo/Ellen Schmidt)

Minnesota Frost goaltender Maddie Rooney celebrates with the Walter Cup after her team won the PWHL hockey finals against the Ottawa Charge, Monday, May 26, 2025, in St. Paul, Minn. (AP Photo/Ellen Schmidt)

Minnesota Frost forward Kendall Coyne Schofield celebrates with the Walter Cup after her team won the PWHL hockey finals against the Ottawa Charge, Monday, May 26, 2025, in St. Paul, Minn. (AP Photo/Ellen Schmidt)

Ottawa Charge goaltender Lucy Morgan, left, and defenseman Ashton Bell, center, dive to save a shot by Minnesota Frost forward Kendall Coyne Schofield (26) during the third period of Game 4 of the PWHL hockey finals Monday, May 26, 2025, in St. Paul, Minn. (AP Photo/Ellen Schmidt)

Minnesota Frost forward Kelly Pannek, center, celebrates at the bench after scoring against the Ottawa Charge during the second period of Game 4 of the PWHL hockey finals Monday, May 26, 2025, in St. Paul, Minn. (AP Photo/Ellen Schmidt)

Minnesota Frost forward Kelly Pannek (12) and goaltender Maddie Rooney, right, celebrate after Pannek's goal during the second period of Game 4 of the PWHL hockey finals against the Ottawa Charge, Monday, May 26, 2025, in St. Paul, Minn. (AP Photo/Ellen Schmidt)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump said Iran wants to negotiate with Washington after his threat to strike the Islamic Republic over its bloody crackdown on protesters, a move coming as activists said Monday the death toll in the nationwide demonstrations rose to at least 544.

Iran had no immediate reaction to the news, which came after the foreign minister of Oman — long an interlocutor between Washington and Tehran — traveled to Iran this weekend. It also remains unclear just what Iran could promise, particularly as Trump has set strict demands over its nuclear program and its ballistic missile arsenal, which Tehran insists is crucial for its national defense.

Meanwhile Monday, Iran called for pro-government demonstrators to head to the streets in support of the theocracy, a show of force after days of protests directly challenging the rule of 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iranian state television aired chants from the crowd, who shouted “Death to America!” and “Death to Israel!”

Trump and his national security team have been weighing a range of potential responses against Iran including cyberattacks and direct strikes by the U.S. or Israel, according to two people familiar with internal White House discussions who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

“The military is looking at it, and we’re looking at some very strong options,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday night. Asked about Iran’s threats of retaliation, he said: “If they do that, we will hit them at levels that they’ve never been hit before.”

Trump said that his administration was in talks to set up a meeting with Tehran, but cautioned that he may have to act first as reports of the death toll in Iran mount and the government continues to arrest protesters.

“I think they’re tired of being beat up by the United States,” Trump said. “Iran wants to negotiate.”

He added: “The meeting is being set up, but we may have to act because of what’s happening before the meeting. But a meeting is being set up. Iran called, they want to negotiate.”

Iran through country's parliamentary speaker warned Sunday that the U.S. military and Israel would be “legitimate targets” if America uses force to protect demonstrators.

More than 10,600 people also have been detained over the two weeks of protests, said the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which has been accurate in previous unrest in recent years and gave the death toll. It relies on supporters in Iran crosschecking information. It said 496 of the dead were protesters and 48 were with security forces.

With the internet down in Iran and phone lines cut off, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult. The Associated Press has been unable to independently assess the toll. Iran’s government has not offered overall casualty figures.

Those abroad fear the information blackout is emboldening hard-liners within Iran’s security services to launch a bloody crackdown. Protesters flooded the streets in the country’s capital and its second-largest city on Saturday night into Sunday morning. Online videos purported to show more demonstrations Sunday night into Monday, with a Tehran official acknowledging them in state media.

In Tehran, a witness told the AP that the streets of the capital empty at the sunset call to prayers each night. By the Isha, or nighttime prayer, the streets are deserted.

Part of that stems from the fear of getting caught in the crackdown. Police sent the public a text message that warned: “Given the presence of terrorist groups and armed individuals in some gatherings last night and their plans to cause death, and the firm decision to not tolerate any appeasement and to deal decisively with the rioters, families are strongly advised to take care of their youth and teenagers.”

Another text, which claimed to come from the intelligence arm of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, also directly warned people not to take part in demonstrations.

“Dear parents, in view of the enemy’s plan to increase the level of naked violence and the decision to kill people, ... refrain from being on the streets and gathering in places involved in violence, and inform your children about the consequences of cooperating with terrorist mercenaries, which is an example of treason against the country,” the text warned.

The witness spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity due to the ongoing crackdown.

The demonstrations began Dec. 28 over the collapse of the Iranian rial currency, which trades at over 1.4 million to $1, as the country’s economy is squeezed by international sanctions in part levied over its nuclear program. The protests intensified and grew into calls directly challenging Iran’s theocracy.

Nikhinson reported from aboard Air Force One.

In this frame grab from video obtained by the AP outside Iran, a masked demonstrator holds a picture of Iran's Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi during a protest in Tehran, Iran, Friday, January. 9, 2026. (UGC via AP)

In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran shows protesters taking to the streets despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026.(UGC via AP)

In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran showed protesters once again taking to the streets of Tehran despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Saturday Jan. 10, 2026. (UGC via AP)