DALLAS — William Gibson stopped 25 shots and the Boston Tea Party held off a third-period push to beat the Dallas Dharma 2-1 on Friday night at American Airlines Center.
Boston did all of its scoring in the first period, then leaned on Gibson and a clean defensive game to protect the lead. The Tea Party struck first at 5:32 when Tom Brady scored unassisted, giving Boston a quick 1-0 edge.
Big Pun doubled the advantage at 17:30 of the opening period, finishing a setup from Lawrence Lessig to make it 2-0. That goal proved to be the winner after the teams played through a scoreless second period.
Dallas, which outshot Boston 26-24, finally broke through early in the third. Sarah Vaillancourt scored at 5:23 off an assist from Anita Sarkeesian, cutting the deficit to one and giving the Dharma life.
But Gibson shut the door from there, turning aside the rest of Dallas’ chances to earn the win. His .962 save percentage led all players and earned him first-star honors.
Dallas goaltender Manon Rhéaume also delivered a strong performance, stopping 22 of 24 shots despite taking the loss. Rhéaume was named the game’s second star, while Brady earned third-star honors after opening the scoring.
The game was played without a recorded penalty, a rarity that helped keep the pace steady but left both teams to settle matters entirely at even strength. Neither side had a power-play opportunity.
Boston spread its offense across the lineup, with Brady recording four shots and Cammi Granato leading the Tea Party with five. Bobby Orr added four shots, while Big Pun scored on one of his three attempts.
For Dallas, Sarkeesian, Percy Spencer and Rod Strickland each generated pressure, but the Dharma could not find a second goal. Sarkeesian and Spencer finished with four shots apiece, while Phife Dawg, Phillip K. Dick, Steven Sasson and Strickland each had three.
The victory gave Boston a tight road win in a game defined by goaltending, discipline and limited scoring chances. Dallas made the final period interesting, but Gibson’s late saves preserved the Tea Party’s one-goal margin before 16,179 fans.
FINAL SCORE: Boston Tea Party 2 @ Dallas Dharma 1
PERIODS 1 2 3 T BOS 2 0 0 2 DFW 0 0 1 1
THREE STARS OF THE GAME
- William Gibson
- Manon Rhéaume
- Tom Brady
SCORING LOG P1 5:32 - BOS GOAL: Tom Brady (unassisted) P1 17:30 - BOS GOAL: Big Pun (Assist: Lawrence Lessig) P3 5:23 - DFW GOAL: Sarah Vaillancourt (Assist: Anita Sarkeesian)
PENALTY LOG No penalties recorded.
TEAM STATS BOS DFW
Shots 24 26
PIM 0 0
SCORING SUMMARY (BOS) Player G A PTS S PIM Big Pun 1 0 1 3 0 Lawrence Lessig 0 1 1 1 0 Tom Brady 1 0 1 4 0 Bobby Orr 0 0 0 4 0 Cammi Granato 0 0 0 5 0 The Lady of Rage 0 0 0 2 0 Alexander Graham Bell 0 0 0 1 0 Ronnie Lott 0 0 0 3 0 Ray Bourque 0 0 0 1 0
SCORING SUMMARY (DFW) Player G A PTS S PIM Sarah Vaillancourt 1 0 1 1 0 Anita Sarkeesian 0 1 1 4 0 Phife Dawg 0 0 0 3 0 Albert Camus 0 0 0 1 0 Phillip K Dick 0 0 0 3 0 Janice Joplin 0 0 0 1 0 Ronnie Spector 0 0 0 1 0 Percy Spencer 0 0 0 4 0 Nick Holonyak, Jr. 0 0 0 2 0 Steven Sasson 0 0 0 3 0 Rod Strickland 0 0 0 3 0
GOALIE STATS Player Team SA SV SV% GA DEC William Gibson BOS 26 25 0.962 1 W Manon Rhéaume DFW 24 22 0.917 2 L