On 22 March 2026, the Seattle Torrent visited a sold-out Tsongas Center in Lowell, MA to face the Boston Fleet. Since these two teams’ last meeting, the Fleet had descended to third place in the PWHL standings less as a result of their own performance, but due to the sustained excellence of Montréal and Minnesota. These two teams met just eleven days prior, with the Torrent rallying late to hand the Fleet their third regulation loss of the season. Boston started Aerin Frankel in goal, while the Sirens went with Corinne Schroeder.
The Torrent had as good of a start as they could have executed. Within the first thirty seconds, Danielle Serdachney and former-Fleet Theresa Schafzahl placed three shots on the Boston net. Seattle’s pressure led to a Riley Brengman interference penalty at 3:30. Natalie Snodgrass created the Torrent’s only shot-on-goal on the woman advantage. The Fleet tilted the momentum the other way in the sixth minute, but Schroeder was up to the task. After several failed exit attempts, Abby Newhook put a puck past the Torrent goalie to give Boston the lead. Nine seconds later, Loren Gabel put Seattle back on the woman advantage, but the ensuing powerplay failed to generate a meaningful shot attempt. Both teams traded quality offensive zone time before Cayla Barnes took a hooking penalty at 14:32. Alina Müller had the Fleet’s only shot of the advantage. Rylind Mackinnon gave the Torrent their third power play of the period at 18:03 on a holding call. Schafzahl and Lexie Adzija placed two chances in the twentieth minute, but couldn’t draw the game to even. Shots were even at 12 after one.
Birds of a feather score together @BC_WHockey ✨
— Boston Fleet (@PWHL_Boston) March 21, 2026
Megan Keller sets Abby Newhook up for the first goal of the night! https://t.co/7PGqrhddSV pic.twitter.com/Y5i3aReO0G
The first half of the second period was largely low-event hockey as both teams traded low percentage chances as they established the forecheck in a tighter defensive sequence in the game. Boston started applying pressure in the eleventh minute, placing four shots on Schroeder in quick order, but the score remained 1-0. Megan Carter took a cross checking penalty at 12:06. Boston’s second powerplay didn’t strike twine, but it generated four quality shots on goal and carried momentum to draw another penalty on Anna Wilgren within a minute of the advantage lapsing. Despite looks from Megan Keller and Jessie Eldridge, the score remained the same. Seattle had a series of looks in the closing minutes of the period, but were also unable to score. Boston led the shot board 14-6 in the frame.
After a physical opening four minutes into the third period, Susanna Tapani put a puck past Schroeder to extend the Fleet lead to two. Aneta Tejralová tried to halve the lead in the eighth minute, but after being denied less than a minute later, Haley Winn extended the Boston lead to 3-0 at 9:18. Jamie Lee Rattray sent the Torrent back to the power play at 12:31, giving them an opportunity at possession to mount their comeback. Schafzahl and Adzija had two higher danger looks from the slot, but couldn’t get them past Frankel. Carter went to the box at 15:18, greatly impeding the Torrent’s comeback chances. Seattle would not place another shot on goal as the Fleet closed out the game with the 3-0 score intact.
TAP-IN @SusannaTapani 🎯
— Boston Fleet (@PWHL_Boston) March 21, 2026
Suski gets her seventh of the season to make it 2-0! https://t.co/E08QtxQvnO pic.twitter.com/nVaoFxbZoR
SHEEEEESH 🔥 https://t.co/r5kgysu9T5 pic.twitter.com/T81GUXoBKg
— Boston Fleet (@PWHL_Boston) March 21, 2026
Overall, the Fleet were the more consistent team from start to finish. Despite surrendering more dangerous chances throughout the game, the combination of elite finishing/shot placement and Frankel’s heroics propelled the Fleet to victory. Newhook and Tapani continue to be the team’s top finishers, while the blueline finds ways to supplement the team’s scoring efforts. Of note, this was Frankel’s fifth shutout of the season, which in 19 starts, means she has an effective shutout rate of 26%, which is fundamentally absurd. For Seattle, this is a continuation of what we’ve seen from them. Their xGF was 2.4 (Boston was 3.1). For the second straight game, a combination of finishing woes and world class goaltending on the other side doomed them. Goaltending is not an issue for Seattle. Their playoff hopes are dwindling, but with a few breaks in their direction, they should be able to secure the top pick under the golden plan.
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