There's no 'Green Monster' in Boston more frustrating to opponents than 5'5" netminder Aerin Frankel. She's been nearly unbeatable for the Boston Fleet this season frustrating opponents with every save.
The height of the Green Monster at Boston's Fenway Park is 37 feet and 2 inches. It's a fabled piece of baseball folklore that "turns what would be home runs" into far less, where "instead of balls sailing over, they tend to bounce right off of the Green Monster."
Boston's other Green Monster stands only 5 feet and 5 inches in height, but is seemingly far more effective at stopping opposing teams from scoring. That Green Monster is the Boston Fleet's Aerin Frankel.
One of the PWHL's smaller goaltenders, Frankel is widely considered one of the PWHL's best netminder. A nominee for the PWHL's Goaltender of the Year in each of the league's seasons, Frankel has stopped an incredible 129 of the 131 shots she's faced this season.
The result is the Boston Fleet, donning their green home uniforms, sitting first overall in the PWHL with a perfect 5-0-0 record, backed by their own Green Monster in net.
Through that span Frankel has recorded three shutouts, a 0.45 GAA, and .985 save percentage.
While there are many factors that have benefitted the Fleet early in the PWHL season, it's the wall in net that has been most impactful.
While Frankel has been helped by a stifling team defensive system under new head coach Kris Sparre, who has the Fleet playing better team hockey than they have at any point in their existence, her ability to quickly end attacks by absorbing pucks or directing rebounds out of harms way has helped the Fleet quickly turn pucks up ice and relieve pressure.
Internationally, Frankel, alongside Ottawa netminder Gwyneth Philips, will be the goaltenders tasked with backstopping Team USA at the 2026 Olympics this February. Frankel's on-ice success this season hasn't been restricted to the PWHL, as she also won both of her starts at the Rivalry Series allowing only two goals in two games posting a 1.00 GAA and 0.961 save percentage.
It means through seven games this season, Frankel is a perfect 7-0-0.
In Boston, it appears that it does not matter if the Green Monster is 37- or 5-feet tall, the nicknames is only aptly given to obstacles that frustrate opponents, robbing them of their offense. For the Boston Fleet, their Green Monster, Aerin Frankel, is epitomizing that reputation.