Aerin Frankel

Aerin Jordan Frankel (born May 24, 1999) is an American professional ice hockey goaltender for the Boston Fleet of the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL) and member of the United States women's national ice hockey team. She is a two-time IIHF Women's World Championship gold medalist (2023, 2025) and silver medalist, having served as Team USA's primary goaltender at three consecutive World Championships. Frankel became the first U.S. women's goaltender to start five consecutive games at an Olympics or World Championship in 26 years during the 2023 tournament. On February 10, 2026, she became the first American goaltender to record a shutout against Canada at the Olympics.

In college hockey, Frankel was one of the most decorated goaltenders in NCAA history. She won the Patty Kazmaier Award in 2021 as the top player in women's college hockey, the Bob Allen Women's Player of the Year award in 2021, and was the inaugural recipient of the WHCA National Goalie of the Year award in 2021, winning it again in 2022. At Northeastern University, she set program records for save percentage, goals-against average, wins, and shutouts, and led the Huskies to the 2021 NCAA championship game.

Professionally, Frankel has established herself as one of the PWHL's premier goaltenders. In the inaugural PWHL season, she led the Boston Fleet to the Walter Cup Finals, setting playoff records with 57 saves in a triple-overtime victory and leading all goaltenders with a .953 save percentage across eight playoff games, for which she was dubbed the Green Monster by fans and the media. She was named a PWHL Second Team All-Star in 2024 and was a finalist for PWHL Goaltender of the Year in both 2024 and 2025. On January 31, 2025, she became the first goaltender in PWHL history to record 1,000 saves. Following a season-long .953 save percentage and eight shutouts, Frankel was named the Billie Jean King MVP award winner and Goaltender of the Year winner for the 2025–2026 season. She was also named a PWHL First Team All-Star in 2026.

Early life Born and raised in Briarcliff Manor, New York, Aerin is the daughter of Deborah and Peter Frankel and has an older brother, Jake. The Frankel family is Jewish. She posted 106 wins during her time at Shattuck, finishing with a 1.10 goals against average, a .945 save percentage, and 39 shutouts. She graduated from Shattuck-Saint Mary's with high honors. Despite being undersized at 5 feet 5 inches—a factor that dissuaded many recruiters—Frankel was recruited by Northeastern head coach Dave Flint based on the recommendation of her coach at Shattuck-Saint Mary's. "Coach Flint saw potential in me, and that's something that made me feel wanted here," Frankel said. "I didn't want to go somewhere where they didn't really care if I came or not. I wanted to go where I was wanted." She made 30 saves against UConn on March 4, 2018, to backstop the Huskies to their first Hockey East title in program history. She was named a top-10 finalist for the 2020 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award as well as the Beanpot's best goaltender, and was named Hockey East Goaltender of the Year for the second consecutive year.

As a senior and alternate captain in 2020–21, Frankel led Northeastern to a 22–2–1 record, the program's first No. 1 national ranking, its fourth consecutive Hockey East championship, and its first Frozen Four appearance. She set an NCAA record with a .969 save percentage and led the nation in every major goaltending category, including a 0.81 GAA, 20 wins.891 winning percentage, and nine shutouts. On March 27, 2021, Frankel was named the recipient of the 2021 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award as the top player in NCAA Division I women's ice hockey, becoming the fourth goaltender in history to win the award and the third Northeastern player to earn the honor, joining Kendall Coyne Schofield (2016) and Brooke Whitney (2002). She recorded an NCAA-leading 25 wins and a career-best 11 shutouts on the season. The PWHPA was founded in May 2019 by over 200 players following the dissolution of the Canadian Women's Hockey League, with the goal of establishing a unified, financially sustainable professional women's hockey league in North America. PWHPA members boycotted existing leagues—including the NWHL—citing concerns over inadequate salaries, lack of health insurance, and insufficient financial stability. The PWHPA organized four region-agnostic teams—Team Adidas, Team Harvey's, Team Scotiabank, and Team Sonnet—that competed in showcase events across North America as part of the Dream Gap Tour. Team Adidas featured Kendall Coyne Schofield, Sarah Nurse, and Amanda Kessel. Frankel entered the season as "a highly touted prospect" with "dazzling speed" across the crease, projected to be "a star for the USA." While Team Adidas lost 5–0 to Team Scotiabank in her debut, "the highly anticipated rookie looked stronger than the scoreline showed," as she faced heavy traffic and appeared to improve throughout the game. In her first professional campaign, Frankel posted a stellar .937 save percentage. She recorded her first PWHL shutout on February 25, 2024, making 41 saves against Minnesota. Boston finished third in the league standings with a 12–3–9 record and 35 points, with Frankel winning three of her final four starts down the stretch to help clinch a playoff berth. She broke her own record two days later in Game 2, making 57 saves in a 2–1 triple-overtime victory. Minnesota ultimately won the series in five games, but Frankel's playoff performance was extraordinary. She played all eight playoff games with a 5–3 record, leading all goaltenders with 580:58 minutes played (over 240 minutes more than any other playoff goaltender), 286 saves, a .953 save percentage, and a 1.45 goals-against average. She was also named a finalist for the PWHL Goaltender of the Year award alongside Kristen Campbell and Corinne Schroeder.

2024–25 season

On January 31, 2025, Frankel became the first goaltender in PWHL history to record 1,000 saves during Boston's 3–2 shootout victory over the New York Sirens. Despite Frankel's strong play throughout the season, Boston narrowly missed the playoffs after she was forced to miss several games while recovering from an injury suffered in the 2025 World Championship gold medal game. On August 4, 2025, Frankel signed a two-year contract extension with the Fleet, keeping her in Boston through the 2027–28 season. Through the first seven games, she recorded three shutouts, a 0.45 goals-against average, and a .985 save percentage, stopping 129 of 131 shots faced. She stopped 70 of 71 shots through the first three games, matching her total career regular-season shutouts (two) entering the 2025–26 season in just three games. She finished the season with a .953 save percentage and 1.17 goal-against average. This strong play delivered Boston to the playoffs, where they failed to progress from the semi-finals while playing against the Ottawa Charge. Frankel was awarded the Billie Jean King MVP Award and Goaltender of the Year award for her regular season performance.

The "Green Monster" nickname

Boston fans and media have nicknamed Frankel the "Green Monster," after the iconic 37-foot-2-inch left field wall at Fenway Park. She was named to the American roster for the 2020 IIHF Women's World Championship before the tournament was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Frankel served as the primary goaltender at the 2023 IIHF Women's World Championship in Brampton, Ontario, where the United States captured the gold medal. Over six games, she earned a 5–0–1 record and compiled a .931 save percentage and 1.48 GAA. The United States defeated Canada 6–3 in the gold medal game. She recorded a shutout in the opening game against Switzerland, stopping all 11 shots in a 4–0 victory on April 3, 2024. Frankel finished the tournament with a .917 save percentage across seven games, backstopping the United States to the gold medal game. In the gold medal game against Canada on April 20, 2025, Frankel was involved in a collision with Canadian forward Laura Stacey outside the crease in the third period and was replaced by backup Gwyneth Philips. The United States won 4–3 in overtime on a goal by Tessa Janecke, completing a perfect 7–0 record and becoming the first U.S. team to go undefeated at a World Championship since 2019. On February 10, Aerin Frankel made 20 saves in a 5–0 win versus Canada, marking the first time that Canada have been shutout in women's ice hockey at the Olympic Games. Frankel earned the start in the gold medal game of the 2026 Winter Olympics Games, a 2-1 overtime win versus Canada. At the 2026 Olympics, Frankel posted a 5-0 record, including a 0.39 goals against average and a .980 save percentage. During the 2026 Olympics, she also set a record for most shutouts in tournament play with three, shutting out Czechia, Canada and Sweden.

Coaching career During the 2024-25 season, Frankel served as the goaltender coach for the Stonehill Skyhawks women's ice hockey. The goalies on the Skyhawks roster during Frankel's season included Eve Stone, Kara Westlake and Alexsa Caron, who earned a place on the NEWHA All-Rookie Team. Of note, Caron set the single season record for saves (1,141) and shutouts (4), highlighted by a 61 save performance versus Ohio State on October 25, 2024, a single game program record.

Personal life Frankel studied criminal justice and psychology at Northeastern University. Frankel is also known for her love of caesar salads. Since 2024, she has undertaken a "passion project" on the Instagram account @painbyromaine, where she rates various caesar salads that she's tried.

On April 3, 2026 Frankel and men's national team player Jack Hughes both threw first pitches during the New York Yankees home opener against the Miami Marlins, with Frankel pitching to catcher J.C. Escara.

Awards and honors Honors Year RefCollege NCAA All-Tournament Team 2021 CCM/AHCA First Team All-American 2020, 2021 Hockey East Goaltending Champion 2021 PWHL PWHL Second Team All-Star 2024, 2025 PWHL First Team All-Star 2026