How PWHL Boston's 'small but mighty' goalie is fueling their surprising playoff run (2024)

LOWELL and WELLESLEY, Mass. — After every PWHL Boston win, the team awards one player the right to wear a coveted green jacket given to the best — most valuable — player in the game.

That decision, at least over the last month, has been pretty easy. Aerin Frankel, 24, has been the league’s most dominant goaltender down the stretch of the season and into the playoffs. She’s won four straight games to lead Boston to a sweep of Montreal and an early 1-0 series lead in the PWHL Finals against Minnesota.

Her .961 save percentage is second among starting goalies in the postseason, just barely behind Toronto goalie Kristen Campbell’s .962. Nobody has faced as many shots (178) or made as many saves (171) as Frankel.

“I feel like every other game she wears (the jacket), because we give it to her every game,” said Boston forward Alina Müller. “It’s unreal how she’s playing.”

Boston was a bit of a surprise semifinalist after a largely disappointing regular season. The team went into the April international break with a dud of a loss to last-place New York and was fifth in the standings. When the season started up again in May — after the IIHF Women’s World Championship — Boston was on the brink of elimination and couldn’t afford to lose many games.

And Frankel didn’t.

In four starts over the team’s final five games of the regular season, Frankel won three in regulation and only lost to Ottawa in a shootout. With the season — and now a championship — on the line, Frankel is 7-0-1, with a .950 save percentage and 1.75 goals against average.

This is nothing new for Frankel, who was a five-year starter at Northeastern University and won five-straight Hockey East Tournament titles, a Beanpot, and led Northeastern to the national championship game in 2021, which the team lost in overtime to Wisconsin. She holds the program records in saves (3,349), shutouts (39) and wins (103).

“Obviously during seasons there’s ups and downs and hot streaks and this and that, but the one thing Aerin has always been really good at is being at her best in the postseason,” Dave Flint, the longtime Northeastern coach, told The Athletic. “She knows what’s at stake and this is when she really shines.”

In the semifinals against Montreal, Frankel made 109 saves on 111 shots in the first two games alone. Her 57 saves in Boston’s 2-1 triple-overtime victory set a new PWHL record for saves in a single game. Boston was outshot 145-102 in the series, and Montreal coach Kori Cheverie went so far as to say her club was the better team over the entire series. Still, Frankel only yielded four goals for an outstanding .972 save percentage to steal Boston some wins when it mattered most.

“We wouldn’t be here without her,” said Boston coach Courtney Kessel. “She’s small but she’s mighty. And we’re going to continue to lean on her.”

Game 1 of the Finals against Minnesota looked a little bit different with a five-goal second period and a 4-3 final score, the highest-scoring game of the postseason. Frankel allowed three goals in the first two periods, more than she allowed in a single game in the semifinals, but shut the door completely in the final frame to preserve the win.

Glove save and a beaut!

Your save of the game from @aerinfrankel__ 🧱

PWHL Boston x @BreadFinancial pic.twitter.com/qS97Xj5ejo

— x – PWHL Boston (@PWHL_Boston) May 20, 2024

“Not only can she elevate in games that matter, but also within the game when the pressure starts to ramp up,” said Boston goalie coach Clay Adams.

Frankel hasn’t allowed a goal against in the third period throughout the playoffs. And she has made all 37 saves she’s faced over five overtime periods.

Adams has worked with Frankel in the offseason for the last few years with Stop It Goaltending in the Boston area. He won’t take any credit for Frankel’s ability to raise her game, though. It’s not something that can be taught.

“Some goalies just have a way of clearing everything out of their minds, controlling the way that they think, controlling the way their body operates and they just almost become unconscious,” he said. “I see that in Aerin and it’s what makes her one of the best, if not the bestfemale goalie in the world right now.”

Stylistically, Frankel’s game is highlighted by her athleticism and anticipation. She rarely looks out of position when she plays, as she tracks pucks and reads plays at an elite level. If Frankel sees a shot, or is squared to the shooter, she’s almost always going to stop the puck. Even on times when she’s screened, or out of position, Frankel’s highly competitive and will fight to make a save.

“She’s such an athletic goalie. We’re on the bench sometimes just like, how did she just do that?” said Müller. “Even in practice, you see an empty net and you’re like, OK, I have a good goal here. And then she comes out of nowhere and saves the puck.”

The one, well-documented, supposed hurdle in Frankel’s career is her height. She is listed at 5-foot-5, which would make Frankel one of the smallest starting goalies in the PWHL. New York’s Corinne Schroeder (5-foot-11) is the tallest.

The women’s game is bigger, faster and better than it’s ever been. More than ever, size in the net is viewed as a weapon. And for those reasons, some scouts and experts have had reservations about whether Frankel’s game could translate into real success at the highest level. A Patty Kazmaier Award, five-straight NCAA tournament appearances and a world championship gold medal would suggest that Frankel is doing just fine. Still, Frankel has been doubted throughout her career because of her size, rather than her results.

“I think it’s probably been one of my biggest motivators,” Frankel said in an interview with The Athletic. “I heard it in high school. I heard it in college and still with the national team. It’s kind of never-ending.

“At the end of the day, what matters is if you’re stopping the pucks.”

Frankel has done that better than anybody in the PWHL playoffs and is looking like the favorite to win the first-ever Ilana Kloss Playoff MVP Award.

“Even though you might see more net on the top of her because of her stature, her patience and her ability to read the release in those situations, it’s a lot easier said than done,” said Adams.

During her time at Northeastern, Flint said he focused more on managing Frankel’s emotions and her response to a loss or allowing a bad goal, rather than overhauling any of her techniques. That kind of work was important in the early days of the Boston season when things weren’t going well for the team and Frankel’s own game was good, not great. It was all new territory for Frankel, who was on a powerhouse Shattuck-St. Mary’s team in high school and only lost six games over her final two college seasons.

“I think it was an adjustment period for her to realize she’s gonna get scored on because her goal is to not let a goal in every time she’s on the ice,” said Müller, who played four seasons with Frankel at Northeastern. “At this level, the players are so good, so it’s OK if at some point she gets beat. I think she’s done a tremendous job accepting that and mentally resetting.”

Flint said that early season adversity has made Frankel even stronger down the stretch of the season, and has helped her be able to work through the ebbs and flows of a game, like going down 0-2 in Game 3 of the semifinals, or allowing three goals against on Sunday night.

“What makes the best goalies so great is just their ability to respond to getting scored on. Sometimes you’re going to let in zero, sometimes you’re going to let in 10,” Frankel said. “My mindset is just never give up on the puck and never give up on the game.”

AERIN. FRANKEL. pic.twitter.com/mcxMDVQMdq

— x – PWHL Boston (@PWHL_Boston) May 10, 2024

This late-season version of Frankel is exactly what Boston GM Danielle Marmer was hoping for when she made Frankel one of the team’s top-three signings at the start of the year.

“The worst thing that you can do on a team of elite goal scorers is to have a non-elite goalie and try to win games 7-6,” she told The Athletic back in December.

And while the elite goal-scoring piece didn’t come for a long — and frankly puzzling — stretch of the season, Frankel has been good enough to give the team a chance to win on any given night.

“We know that we haven’t scored too many goals as forwards or skaters,” said Müller. “Knowing that two goals might be enough in a game because she will save all the other pucks definitely helps to build confidence,” said Müller.

Frankel’s game has also given Boston the confidence to play with more freedom and not be afraid that a mistake will end up in the back of the net. The offense has been clicking more now than it has all season and, beyond just Frankel, this is what many expected from a Boston team that looked very deep on paper heading into the season.

Now, Boston needs just two more wins to become the first team to win the Walter Cup. A win on Tuesday night would give the team a commanding 2-0 series lead before the Finals shift to Minnesota for Games 3 and 4.

It could be a long series still. Minnesota coach Ken Klee did an excellent job making adjustments to shock No. 1 Toronto with a comeback series win, and will surely be working on ways to best Frankel. But, as Adams said, that’s been easier said than done.

(Top photo: Minas Panagiotakis / Getty Images)

Hailey Salvian is a staff writer for The Athletic covering women’s hockey and the NHL. Previously, she covered the Calgary Flames and Ottawa Senators and served as a general assignment reporter. Hailey has also worked for CBC News in Toronto and Saskatchewan. Follow Hailey on Twitter @hailey_salvian