The fog on the glass belonged to 9-year-old Alice Commans.
Her arms, physique size aside, held up a hand-drawn poster that learn, “Let’s go Sirens!” Every nook contained a message for 4 of her favourite gamers, together with Sarah Fillier, Alex Carpenter, Ella Shelton and Chloe Aurard.
When the ultimate horn sounded on the Sirens’ 4-2 win towards the Toronto Sceptres and Frank Sinatra’s “New York, New York” began to play, Commans had a couple of new associates by her aspect.
Perhaps they’ll be teammates someday.
“It’s incredible that we have this league,” mentioned Commans, who began taking part in hockey 4 years in the past. “It’s so fun. It’s like you get to see girls play and then little girls like me get to dream about it.”
The Sirens made their season debut Wednesday at Prudential Heart, their everlasting house for this season and past.
For the gamers, it was an thrilling and welcome change from final season, when New York performed its house video games at three totally different arenas.
Goaltender Corinne Schroeder mentioned Wednesday evening “certainly” felt like a house recreation, the place the Sirens had home-ice benefit.
“It was really nice to be able to drive ourselves to this game rather than have to stay in hotels,” Schroeder mentioned. “I think it helps us feel like we’re at home, we’re not on a specific schedule, we can create our own home game-day schedule.”
The evening began with Newark mayor Ras Baraka cranking the turquoise horn to sound the siren.
The primary interval was very a lot backwards and forwards between New York and Toronto, although neither crew scored.
Throughout the first intermission, Amanda LeVine, a brand new Sirens fan, mentioned she hoped to see extra motion — purpose scoring — shifting ahead.
Within the second interval, the Sirens delivered — not as soon as, however 4 instances, sending the house crowd right into a frenzy.
It was the standard suspects who arrange New York’s first purpose of the evening.
Fillier handed the puck to Carpenter, who arrange Noora Tulus for her first purpose of the season.
Followers jumped onto their toes and raised their fists within the air as Britney Spears’ “Gimme More” blared from the world audio system.
Excessive-fives and fist bumps had been exchanged.
A refrain of “wee-woo” chants echoed from one part to a different.
Followers would comply with the same ritual three extra instances when Emmy Fecteau, Micah Zandee-Hart and Jaime Bourbonnais every scored their first targets of the season to provide the Sirens a 4-0 lead by the top of the second interval.
Whereas the two,700 followers scattered round Prudential Heart’s decrease bowl had been largely full of life, part 12, 13 and 14 was the rowdiest bunch.
Aubrey Dearen, of Manhattan, sat amongst the chaos in part 13.
She and her pal, Jenna Travis, wore matching Sirens onerous hats that they comprised of a Monster Inc. costume from Spirit Halloween.
The purple beacon gentle on the highest of every of their heads lit up when the Sirens scored.
Dearen and Travis began following New York final season, although neither knew a lot about hockey.
They attended a couple of video games and Dearen mentioned she needed to Google to know what number of intervals had been performed.
Their ardour for the Sirens got here from their love of girls’s sports activities.
“[We] wanted to support women’s sports and show there is a market for this,” Dearen, 26, mentioned. “We do want to see it. We’re just as good as men … it’s for us.”
Eric Tao, of Bergen County, is a proud father of two ladies hockey gamers and sat a couple of rows behind Dearen and Travis.
“I grew up wanting to play for the Leafs,” mentioned Tao, who’s initially from Toronto. “The fact that we have a women’s league that they can aspire to, it means the world to me. Because all boys grow up going, ‘I want to play in the NHL.’ But the girl couldn’t — until now. They go, ‘I want to play in the PWHL.’ They say it all the time. I’m like, ‘Wow, that’s amazing.’”
The Sirens are hoping to construct off Wednesday’s momentum because the season continues on. It’ll take time for them to ascertain a spot inside New York’s saturated sports activities market.
But when there’s one factor all New Yorkers can get behind, it’s a successful crew and the Sirens have their sights set on doing extra of that this season.
