WELLESLEY — First it was Alina Müller potting the winning goal in three-on-three overtime to win the bronze medal for Switzerland. Then it was Megan Keller doing the same for Team USA as the Americans won gold over Canada.
And finally — though it wasn’t broadcast to millions of fans around the world — it was Hadley Hartmetz’s turn.
While seven Fleet players competed on the biggest stage at the Milan Cortina Olympics, those back home were engaging in their own Olympiad. It was Green vs. White in small-sided games over two weeks, and the teams were tied in the standings heading into the final day of competition at Boston Sports Institute.
Hartmetz, a second-year defender, led the Fleet in goals over the course of the competition, and in Thursday’s winner-take-all three-on-three matchup, she netted the golden goal for Team White.
With the PWHL on its monthlong Olympic break — which halted the season at its midpoint — coach Kris Sparre needed to find ways to drive competition and keep the 19 stateside players excited to show up every day.
“It’s been a long couple weeks for our players, and we’ve pushed them pretty hard,” Sparre said. “It’s hard. It can be monotonous — practice, practice, practice. Your players are playing in the Olympics, high-stakes games. We want to keep this group excited too, and enthusiastic.”
After 30 days off from games, the Fleet’s season resumes in Ottawa on Saturday for the start of a five-game road swing. Boston’s next home game is March 17 against Toronto at Agganis Arena.
The players and coaches had one week off at the beginning of the break, and many used it to visit friends and family. Since they returned to practice, it’s been all business as they fight to maintain their momentum despite the less-than-ideal timing of the pause.
“Where we were at, I think we would have been excited to just keep playing for a bit,” said Sparre, whose first-place Fleet won four of their last five games before the break.
Sparre structured practice to be skating-heavy early in each week with more physical, game-like scenarios later.
Without the full roster available, however, fielding five-on-five scrimmages became tough, so the Fleet focused their energy on their individual development plans — blueprints drawn up at the beginning of the season identifying where and how each player can improve.
The players were split into “pods” based on their areas of need and spent large portions of practice working one-on-one with members of the coaching staff.
“When you have time off, it’s just about getting your timing back and the feel of the game back,” assistant captain Jamie Lee Rattray said. “You can’t really emulate it in practice as much as you want to play five-on-five. You just can’t do it the same way. But I think we’ve done the best we can to set ourselves up for the final sprint.”
This Olympic break has a different feeling compared to last year’s world championship break, which fell right at the height of the playoff push in April and was about a week shorter than the Olympic pause.
Last year when the Fleet returned, they had just three games left in the regular season. This year, they have 16.
“We have a strong group, mentally, and I’m not worried about where the break falls,” Sparre said. “If anything, it’s just going to help.”
On top of the individual skills work in practice, the team has focused on mental preparation and connection outside of the rink over the past few weeks.
They attended a Celtics game as a team, hosted potlucks at players’ homes, and visited an arcade for a day of low-stakes competition — though some of the games got pretty heated.
They’re hoping they’ve found the right formula to keep their hot streak going.
“To be able to spend the last few weeks getting better, I think that’s been our push and our motivation to show up every day,” forward Jill Saulnier said. “The messaging has been really positive and fun and light, but it’s time to work when the practice starts.”
Emma Healy can be reached at emma.healy@globe.com or on X @ByEmmaHealy.