PWHL
“It was a gutsy effort by our team.”
Coming off a two-game losing streak, all the Boston Fleet needed was some home cooking.
Skating in front of a sold out crowd of 6,003 at Agganis Arena, the Boston Fleet got back in the win column on Wednesday night against Hilary Knight and the Seattle Torrent — securing a 2-1 victory on Commonwealth Avenue.
With the win, the Fleet (7-0-1-2) improve to 4-0-0-0 at home this season in games at both Boston University’s Agganis Arena and the Tsongas Center in Lowell.
“I feel like we haven’t played at home in a while and it was nice to get back in front of our fans in the city of Boston,” Fleet captain Megan Keller said. “It’s pretty cool to see no matter where we’re playing, Tsongas or Agganis, our fans show up.
“No matter how many people are in the building, it seems like they’re always the loudest group. Super happy that we could get a win for them and hopefully the crowds just continue to show up.”
Jamie Lee Rattray and Keller both lit the lamp for the Fleet, while netminder Aerin Frankel stopped 14 shots in the victory.
Rattray opened the scoring for Boston at 17:23 in the first period after Knight — the Fleet’s former captain — was obstructed by teammate Anna Wilgren in the offensive zone, leading to a 2-on-0 breakaway down the other end of the ice.
With Seattle goalie Corinne Schroeder the last line of defense between Rattray and Laura Kluge, the Fleet struck — with Kluge hitting Rattray backdoor for a 1-0 lead. It marked the second goal in as many games for Rattray.
Keller doubled Boston’s lead in the opening minute of the third period, blasting a power-play goal past Schroeder off a one-timer from the right faceoff dot.
After an extended stretch where Seattle didn’t land a shot on goal for over 16 minutes, a pair of former Fleet players in Knight and Hannah Bilka finally snapped Frankel’s shutout hopes in the third — with Bilka wristing a puck past Boston’s goalie at 7:14 in frame.
Wednesday marked the first game back in Boston for former Fleet players Knight, Bilka, Lexie Adzija, and Emily Brown — who joined the Torrent as part of the PWHL’s expansion efforts over a busy offseason.
“Honestly, a lot of mixed emotions,” Knight said of returning to Boston. “I have some really lifelong friends on the other team, I know the staff incredibly well here, and it feels like home. Part of my family is from here, and the fans were electric.
“The body of work that we put together was just so special, so just remembering that, and then being on the other side competing, getting ready and focusing on the game. But I really appreciate the warm welcome here tonight from everyone.”
Despite Bilka’s tally, that was all that the Torrent were able to generate against Frankel, who was aided by a dogged defensive effort in front of her. After Schroeder was pulled for an extra skater, the Fleet blocked four Seattle shots over the final 90 seconds of regulation — and 14 total on the night.
Seattle only landed 15 shots in the game — including just two on net the second period.
“It was a gutsy effort by our team,” Fleet head coach Kris Sparre said. “I thought when things got tight in the third, we stuck together. It was a focus for us because we’ve had the lead throughout games this season going into the third period and found a way to close those games out.
“We felt like the last two slipped away from us, so the focus for us tonight was to sustain a concentrated effort to the end.”
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