The Week in Seattle Torrent Hockey: December 15th-21st, 2025
By Charles Hamaker
Seattle, WA - In a new weekly written series, we’ll be providing you with all sorts of information relating to your Seattle Torrent! Practice information, merch news, and much more will come from this to break down what we’re seeing as media who cover the team on a day-to-day basis. There’s plenty to be excited about with this franchise, from seeing things built from the ground up, the great merchandise that seems to be unveiled more and more, to learning more about the great personalities on the team itself. We hope to bring you all sorts of content and news relating to the team with this series, starting with this mid-December edition as the Torrent played two games and held a handful of practices.
December 15th: First practice with international players back from break
Monday, December 15th, marked the first practice session for the Torrent since their international players returned from their respective teams: seven players were participating in the Rivalry Series with Team USA or Canada, while Aneta Tejralová was with Czechia. Using rink three (Virginia Mason Franciscan Health) at the Kraken Community Iceplex, three of those international players were on the ice in Danielle Serdachny, Anna Wilgren, and Tejralová, as the third of that trio was back in a regular white practice jersey after being seen on multiple occasions in the red non-contact look in the practice sessions before leaving for the break. Aneta had been out of the Seattle lineup since the inaugural game up in Vancouver, and this was the first step to her return for the Torrent.
The other internationals not skating were in the team’s weight room at KCI, including Hilary Knight, Alex Carpenter, Cayla Barnes, Hannah Bilka, and Julia Gosling. With those players not on the ice, the Torrent reserve players (Forwards Jada Habisch and Sydney Langseth, plus defender Emily Zumwinkle) were slotting in to line rushes and drills where the internationals were. Outside of the internationals, there was a return as forward Natalie Snodgrass was back out on the ice after missing a practice session the week prior due to an illness. Other observations from the practice include rookie forward Jenna Buglioni looking faster and more like the player who came out of Ohio State, seemingly returning to form after dealing with an upper-body injury she played through as far back as the New York game on December 3rd. Lastly, Danielle Serdachny stayed after everyone else had left to get shots in.
Off the ice, a few youth-sized Torrent jerseys and some adult Alex Carpenter jerseys were seen at the Northgate location of Dicks Sporting Goods. Alex Carpenter eventually went and saw those jerseys in person.
December 16th: Practice ahead of gameday vs Ottawa
The Tuesday, December 16th practice was the last session open to media ahead of the team’s first game since returning from the international break, as they prepared to welcome the Ottawa Charge to town. Goaltender Carly Jackson was the first player on the ice for the Torrent, as fellow netminder Corinne Schroeder and defender Cayla Barnes followed shortly after.
The international players who hadn’t been skating before were on the ice, as you can tell by the mention of Barnes. There was an injury-related note to make from this session, as reserve forward Sydney Langseth was seen in a red non-contact jersey, but it was not made clear what she was dealing with.
The main highlight of the practice was the power-play work the Torrent got in, first without a penalty kill, then with a unit on the ice to defend against it later in the session. One change was made between the two units: Hannah Bilka was moved to the top unit, while Jessie Eldridge was moved to the second unit. Otherwise, Lily Delianedis, Mariah Keopple, Jada Habisch, and Anna Wilgren all stayed after practice to get extra work in.
Power Play Unit One
Barnes
Bilka-Carpenter-Gosling
Knight
(GOAL)
Power Play Unit Two
Tejralová
Wilgren - Serdachny - Grant-Mentis
Eldridge
(GOAL)
December 17th: Torrent firmly defeat the Charge
Wednesday, December 17th, was a Torrent gameday, the third game on the team’s first-ever homestand, a five-game set that had the international break wedged in between the second and third contests. Given what we’d seen at practice in the days leading up to this game, it made sense that forward and third-round pick Lily Delianedis was set to make her debut for the Torrent in this game against Ottawa. With Natalie Snodgrass missing this game due to an illness, an illness that had kept her out of a few practices over the international break, Delianedis slotted into Marah Wagner’s spot on the fourth line while Wagner pushed up to Snodgrass’ spot on the third line with Mikyla Grant-Mentis and Lexie Adzija. Given the practices she’d participated in and even the progress that she’d made before leaving for the international break, it wasn’t a shock to us to see Aneta Tejralová back in the lineup on a pair with Megan Carter.
Hannah Murphy drew into the crease for a second consecutive start for Seattle, as she’d duel against fellow rookie goaltender Sanni Ahola for the Charge, who was making her PWHL debut. With this game, Ahola became the first Finnish netminder to play in the PWHL.
In the merch department, the team store had “shirseys,” aka shirts designed to look like jerseys, of players other than Hilary Knight: Alex Carpenter, Corinne Schroeder, Marah Wagner, Carly Jackson, and Cayla Barnes. Additionally, the team store had a few other new items available for the crowd that attended the Charge game, as they’d been stockpiling what merchandise they had available and holding on to it for this game after selling most of it last time out for that Sirens game. This game was the team’s Carabiner giveaway, as the first 6,000 fans in attendance took home the free item. Additionally, most of the Climate Pledge Arena employees we saw were wearing pink ribbons in support of Ottawa head coach Carla MacLeod, who is currently battling breast cancer.
Lastly, in the lineup notes, defender Lyndie Lobdell was a late addition as the seventh defender. The rookie defender out of Penn State didn’t end up playing much at all outside of some time in the third period.
Game gallery from the Seattle Torrent vs Ottawa Charge game on December 17th, 2025 at Climate Pledge Arena. (Photos by Andy Glass for Circling Seattle Sports)
In the game itself, the Torrent saw immediate success from their new-look power play, as goals from Julia Gosling and Alex Carpenter gave Seattle a two-goal lead early in the second period. Gosling’s goal came with just three seconds left in the first frame, while Carpenter’s, her first of the game, came just under 6:30 into the middle period. Carpenter added a second goal at the 11:29 mark in the second period before a Hannah Bilka empty net goal late into the third seemingly put the game away. Seattle appeared to have been heading for history, with the franchise's first hat-trick and first shutout within reach, but Carpenter never got a third goal, and Hannah Murphy had her shutout bid ended with 39 seconds left to play by Rebecca Leslie. A solid crowd of 9,389 watched this victory for the Torrent.
“I like how they moved it; I like how they had a shot mentality and numbers around the net. I joke with them about how I’m glad they didn’t waste any time on the first one. I hate starting power plays in the second or third period because it’s hard to get the momentum. They did a good job, and it was nice to get that goal. We’ve been in this building where it’s taken us some time to get to that first goal, and it gets tense. We wanted to deliver for the fans, loosen up and just play free. It was nice to get that first one where we did in the period and that gave us momentum heading into the second.”
December 18th was a day off for the Torrent.
December 19th: Practice following the win over Ottawa
Following their day off on Thursday, the Torrent returned to practice on Friday, December 19th, at the Kraken Community Iceplex on rink two (Smartsheet). The second and third lines for the Torrent of Bilka-Serdachny-Eldridge and Snodgrass - Grant-Mentis - Adzija were on the ice before everyone else as they were getting some early offensive zone work in. By mentioning her, it should become clear that Snodgrass was back in a standard practice jersey after missing the Ottawa game due to an illness. Another positive return was that of Sydney Langseth, who was also back in a standard practice jersey after being seen in the red non-contact look back on Tuesday.
While those aforementioned lines were getting some offensive zone time in, Jada Habisch, Lily Delianedis, and Langseth were helping the goaltenders get some work in on the other side of the rink. In rushes and drills that saw them use their standard lines and pairings, the Torrent lineup was back to as full strength as we’ve seen it this season. Lastly for the practice session, Langseth, Carly Jackson, Emily Zumwinkle, Anna Wilgren, and Aneta Tejralová were getting in extra work after the main practice session had ended.
Lastly for Torrent related things on December 19th, forward Mikyla Grant-Mentis and defender Mariah Keopple were at the “Battle for Seattle” game at Climate Pledge Arena, played by the University of Washington and Seattle University men’s basketball teams.
The Torrent did hold a practice on Saturday, December 20th, but we unfortunately were not able to attend. We apologize for that failure in our coverage.
December 21st: Torrent fall to Fleet
A highly anticipated matchup between the league’s top team at the moment and one of the better rosters in the league went down Sunday afternoon. The Boston Fleet, who had won their first five games of the season before falling to Minnesota back on Thursday, came in looking to bounce back from that defeat and were attempting to do so without star netminder Aerin Frankel, as she got the game off. The Torrent, winners of back-to-back games and looking to get revenge on behalf of the four former Fleet players on the roster, were looking to play the role of spoiler against the PWHL’s leading team in the standings. A strong crowd of 11,023 packed into Climate Pledge Arena to continue showing Seattle’s support for its women’s sports teams.
This was the team’s Indigenous Peoples Celebration, as the Black River Canoe Family was present for an exceptional performance before the national anthem. Nicole Suyama of Red Eagle Soaring performed that anthem, and University of Washington alum and member of the Cowlitz Tribe Rosalie Fish performed the ceremonial puck drop.
Pregame frames ahead of the Seattle Torrent game against the Boston Fleet on December 21st, 2025, at Climate Pledge Arena. (Photos by Liz Wolter for Circling Seattle Sports)
Corinne Schroeder was given the nod to start in goal for the Torrent, her first appearance for Seattle since the team's inaugural home opener against the Minnesota Frost, where she showed well, but the team was shutout in front of a record-setting crowd. Natalie Snodgrass returned to the lineup after missing the team’s last game with an illness.
While the Torrent pushed well early on and had two power plays in the first period, it was the Fleet who struck first on a Daniela Pejšová puck towards the net from the blue line through traffic and then again on a jailbreak goal right before the period ended. The game went scoreless in the middle frame, before Megan Keller added a third goal on the power play for Boston. Jessie Eldridge scored on a redirection out front in the dying moments of the game to give the crowd something to cheer for, but it was too little too late.
Rookie forward Jenna Buglioni took a tough hit along the boards early into the third period and was ruled out for the rest of the game with an upper-body injury. Head coach Steve O’Rourke didn’t have an update on Buglioni or any more information on her postgame.
What’s next?
The week ahead for the Seattle Torrent, December 22nd through 28th, sees two games on the schedule. The first of the two comes on Tuesday, December 23rd, with a puck drop time of 7 PM PST as the Montréal Victoire roll into town to close out the homestand for the Torrent. The team is set to hold a practice at Climate Pledge Arena on Monday in preparation for that game, but that is set to be closed to the media, so we unfortunately won’t be able to provide any information on that. The second game comes on Sunday, December 28th, against the New York Sirens with a 3 PM PST puck drop in a PWHL Takeover Tour game at American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas.
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