Boston Fleet goalie Aerin Frankel is the best in the PWHL, in the eyes of her head coach, Courtney Birchard-Kessel. But Birchard-Kessel has also said she wants Frankel not to have to be.
Early on in the Minnesota Frost’s 2-1 win on the road against the Fleet, the 25-year-old goalie weathered a barrage of Frost shots.
But that could only last so long. After getting their home opener spoiled by the New York Sirens on Sunday, the Frost did the same at Boston Wednesday night, thanks to a game-winner from rookie Dominique Petrie.
It was a rematch of last season’s Walter Cup best-of-five finals, which Minnesota won 3-2. In Game 5, Frankel made 38 saves, but the Frost, then dubbed “PWHL Minnesota,” clinched the league’s inaugural title with a 3-0 win in Boston.
Petrie would make sure that Minnesota extended its win streak to three in Boston. She deflected a deep shot from Mellissa Channell-Watkins into the net with 10 minutes left in the third period.
A fifth-round draft pick that played at Harvard and Clarkson, Petrie also scored the goal that forced Sunday’s 4-3 loss into overtime.
Boston, which netted the least amount of goals in the six-team league last season, hung in their home opener early thanks to the pads of Frankel, a former Patty Kazmaier award winner that posted 29 saves on Wednesday.
Michaela Cava, the Frost’s Canadian center, opened the scoring in the second period. Taylor Heise, cornered against the boards behind the net, flicked a no-look pass back to Cava, who popped the puck up and over Frankel.