Following Takeover Tour games in Dallas and Hamilton, Ont., and road games in Boston and St. Paul, Minn., the Seattle Torrent were finally back on home ice Sunday for the first time since Dec. 23.
Awaiting them at Climate Pledge Arena was the PWHL’s top team, the Boston Fleet. To their surprise, and the delight of 12, 774 fans, Seattle had a noticable edge in possession, shots, and scoring chances.
But star Fleet goalie Aerin Frankel thwarted chance after Torrent chance, 36 saves in all. Hanna Brandt, after missing in an earlier round, scored the only goal of the shootout as the Fleet survived, 2-1.
Julia Gosling had the lone Seattle goal, and Corinne Schroeder was outstanding with 20 saves. Boston has won all three meetings this season, including a 3-1 victory in Seattle Dec. 21 and 2-1 triumph in Boston on Jan. 7. The teams will face off two more times this season.
1st Period
Tonight is Seattle’s Black History Celebration, part of the PWHL Unity Game series.
Julia Gosling was slow to rise after a crushing open-ice hit from Daniela Pejšová. It was ajudged a minor penalty for illegal body checking, because the puck wasn’t in the vicinity. On the power play, Alex Carpenter glanced the crossbar from the right circle with a lot of net to shoot at. The Torrent did put four PP shots on Fleet goalie Frankel, who sports a sparkling .948 save % and 1.25 goals-against average.
Torrent defender Aneta Tejralová, coming off a recent two-game suspension, is whistled for a hit to the head. Halfway through the period, Susanna Tapani’s left circle shot, which Schroeder easily turns aside, is Boston’s first shot on goal.
Jenna Buglioni’s clear over the glass survives a video review, because Boston tipped the puck on its way to the stands. However, with 11 seconds left on the Tejralová minor, Mikyla Grant-Mentis is called for slashing. Boston needs just four of those 11 seconds of 5-on-3 to take the lead, off the stick of Megan Keller at 12:28.
Four of the Boston captain’s five goals have come with the player advantage.
PWHL screengrab
Hilary Knight is hauled down on a shorthanded break; the lack of call enrages Torrent coach Steve O’Rourke, who bangs the glass while delivering choice words for the officials. Regardless, Seattle kills the second penalty.
Boston’s Frankel denies Danielle Serdachny’s backhand in front, and Jessie Eldridge’s follow up. Seattle can’t connect on a late-period second power play. Seattle leads in shots after one, 11-4.
PWHL screengrab
2nd Period
Schroeder makes her best save on a right circle drive off the stick of Haley Winn.
The biggest cheer of the night might not be for action on the ice, but when 2014 Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai was shown waving on the video scoreboards. Malala met with and spoke to Torrent players prior to the game.
Good thing the CPA crowd got a chance to warm up their vocal cords. Seconds later, Brooke Bryant sends a cross-ice pass to Gosling, who one-times the puck past Frankel before the goalie can slide post-to-post. Gosling’s fifth ties the game 1-1 at 5:47.
Energized by the goal, Seattle follows with a dominant offensive-zone shift that eventually forces Boston into an icing. Torrent defender Anna Wilgren’s neutral zone hit puts Hannah Brandt on the ice, drawing “ooohs” from the crowd. Seattle turns its third power play into a carnival shooting gallery; Hannah Bilka, at the right lip of the crease, just misses tipping in Eldridge’s centering pass.
The Schroeder Show: first, the puck squirts to Jill Saulnier, so all alone in front of the goalie that she can stickhandle forehand-backhand roughly 987 times. Schroeder stays with every move, eventually making a key save. Her next play is borne of anticipation; the puck is skidding into the Torrent zone, followed eagerly by a pair of Fleet. Schroeder races out of her crease to reach the puck first, smacking it out of trouble. (see photo below.)
Shots after two periods favor Seattle, 18-10.
3rd Period
Ironing: Seattle defender Anna Wilgren rocks one crossbar; Boston’s Jamie Rattray actually shoots off the underside of the other crossbar – neither shot crosses the line.
Seattle sports power couple Sue Bird and Megan Rapinoe in attendance; when shown on the video screens, Bird flashed the double “V” for victory sign to more raucous cheers. Bird and Rapinoe were sitting in the same box as Malala.
Eleven minutes into the period, shots are 11-2 for Seattle. The Fleet would have more, and possibly the lead, except for an exceptional block by Seattle defender Cayla Barnes. A Seattle turnover left Barnes the only Torrent back. She was able to intercept Saulnier’s centering pass for Abby Newhook.
Frankel made a sparkling glove save on a Natalie Snodgrass snipe down the slot with eight seconds left in regulation, her 33rd save. Shots after 60 were 34 Seattle, 18 Boston.
Overtime
The puck hops over Hilary Knight’s stick as she’s pinching at the left point, gifting Winn an almost rink-length breakaway. As the crowd holds its collective breath, Schroeder makes the save – and for the time being, saves the game.
Schroeder comes up big again in the final minute of OT, as Shay Maloney got free to take a pass behind the Seattle defense. Schroeder’s 20th and final save sends the game to a five-round shootout.
In the shootout, with Seattle going first in each round:
Bilka – poke-checked by goalie
Brandt – saved
Wilgren – saved
Rattray – saved
Carpenter – left goalpost
Tapani – saved
Knight – saved
Winn -saved
Gosling – saved
Brandt – GOAL
Up Next
The Torrent are back in action Tuesday night at CPA, hosting the Toronto Scepters.
Nice while it lasted: This afternoon’s Takeover Tour game in Washington, D.C. broke Seattle’s U.S. attendance record for a women’s hockey game. 17,228 at Capital One Arena watched the N.Y. Sirens defeat the Montreal Victoire 2-1, surpassing the previous record of 16,014 fans set on Nov. 28, 2025, when the Seattle Torrent hosted the Minnesota Frost. The first-ever PWHL contest played in D.C. ranks tenth all-time in league attendance.