“And after five long years, the wait is over! The Isobel Cup belongs to Boston once more!”

That was the call Saturday night at Warrior Ice Arena after the final buzzer blared on a 4-3 Boston Pride victory over the Minnesota Whitecaps in the Isobel Cup Final, giving the Pride their second National Women's Hockey League title in an emotional and poetic finale to a journey that went well beyond one season.

The matchup between Minnesota and Boston was supposed to happen a year ago, when the Pride were headed into the Isobel Cup Final against the Whitecaps with a 23-1 record — and what felt like destiny on their side.

But then the pandemic put an end to the season, and the final.

The league pushed forward into its sixth seasonearly this year with a two-week "bubble season" in Lake Placid. Then, COVID-19 hit again. The virus crept into the bubble and forced the league to call it quits before the much-shortened season could finish.

“It's been the longest season ever," exhausted but exuberant Pride defender Kaleigh Fratkin said after the game. "I feel like freakin' last year into this year has just been a blur. It really has. And you go from a packed ... seven games that we played in Lake Placid, you take a break and then you're practicing again."

Although its bubble broke, the league committed to finish what it started and held a four-team playoff at Warrior Ice Arena, giving Boston the chance to finally play for the Cup at home. It was a resurrection, and the Pride didn’t let their second chance go to waste.

“You know, I don’t think it could have been written any other way," Fratkin said.

Pride head coach Paul Mara had nothing but praise for his team.

“I don’t think anyone knows the dedication that these players put in," he said. "When you start practices in the middle of a pandemic, and you have no idea where and when it's going to end ... They totally deserve this, and it's been a time coming. So it's awesome for them."

After the game, Pride captain and Isobel Cup MVP Jillian Dempsey was the first person from the team who got to hold the trophy.

“Hoisting that and sharing it with this group, everybody’s all smiles. You turn around, giving everybody you see a hug," she said. "And like I said, [I'm] just so incredibly proud of this group and everything that’s been put in. This is a couple of years coming now. It’s just phenomenal to be able get the trophy at the end. That’s the ultimate goal.”

There may not be a team in any pro sport that has gone through as much as the Boston Pride to be champions. Through canceled games, positive COVID-19 tests and broken bubbles, they came out on top of the longest short season ever.