Aerin Frankel made 25 saves for the Boston Fleet lifting them to a 4-0 shutout over the New York Sirens, a win that leapfrogged them into a PWHL playoff spot.
Aerin Frankel made 25 saves for the Boston Fleet lifting them to a 4-0 shutout over the New York Sirens, a win that leapfrogged them into a PWHL playoff spot.
Aerin Frankel was a brick wall, and the Boston Fleet continued their winning ways against the New York Sirens with a 4-0 shutout on Wednesday night at The Prudential Center.
The Fleet netminder made 25 saves, including several partial breakaways by Jesse Eldridge and Elizabeth Giguere in the first period, to earn her first shutout of the season and second of her Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL) career.
Born in New York City and raised in Briarcliff, New York, the 25-year-old blanked a PWHL opponent for the first time since Feb. 25, 2024, when she stopped 41 shots in a 2-0 outcome against Minnesota at the Xcel Energy Center.
Frankel has now won each of her last five games in goal, including the recent shootout win against New York when she surpassed 1,000 career saves (regular season and playoffs).
“It’s really nice to see us be able to pay back Aerin for all the times she's kept us in these games and get a shutout for her," said Boston head coach Courtney Kessel. "I think it's important from a mentality standpoint and it was great for us to put four goals in the back of the net. It’s something we've been focusing on, getting a little bit more offense, so it was really nice to see.”
“Overall really good team win," said Frankel. "I think the shots that New York got kind of came in waves, so I was just trying to stay focused throughout the game, do my job and give us momentum when we needed those stops to carry on and win the game.”
Boston, whose balanced offensive attack resulted in 10 players logging either goals or assists, celebrated its first regulation road win and moved ahead of New York into fourth place despite both teams having 20 points.
The Fleet, who play at The Rock again next Monday at 4 p.m. in a holiday Kids Day matchup, has already prevailed in the five-game series against New York with its third 'W.' this season. The two rivals head to Buffalo, N.Y. for the third meeting in less than two weeks as the Takeover Tour comes to the KeyBank Centre. Puck drop is also at 4 p.m.
With just three seconds remaining in a back-and-forth first period in which the host Sirens actually had the better of the offensive chances, the Fleet disheartened the hosts when Susanna Tapani converted an initial shot by Hillary Knight for her sixth goal.
Knight, who came through with her seventh assist, gained possession on the draw inside the left circle, skated into the high slot and sent a wrister toward New York goalie Corinne Schroeder. Tapani was there for the tip and the 1-0 advantage.
While neither squad scored in the second period, Boston had the better of the action and began to get the upper hand in forechecking and with its transition game. And while the Sirens continued to press and get behind the visitors' defense on several occasions, Frankel was up to every challenge and kept New York's second chances to a minimum.
The Fleet put the game away with a three-goal barrage in the third period. They finished play by outshooting New York, 31-25. New York also came up empty on the player advantage despite four opportunities.
Megan Keller, off assists from Jamie Lee Rattray and Hannah Brandt, went top shelf just over three minutes into the final frame for her fourth of the campaign. For Brandt, it was her fifth helper.
Rattray then deposited her second goal this season as Theresa Schafzahl and Emma Greco notched their second assists respectively.
Shay Maloney closed out the scoring with a little over four minutes left, with the assists going to Sophie Shirley and Alina Müller.
For the second straight game, the Sirens were without star forward Alex Carpenter with an upper-body injury.
The shutout also marked the end of Sarah's Fillier's six-game point streak. She had totalled a goal and five assists over that stretch. Fillier left the game in the final minute following a collision with Müller.