Lou Orlando
NEWARK — Sometimes there’s just no beating a red-hot goalie. The New York Sirens learned that the hard way Thursday night, falling to the Boston Fleet 1-0 at Prudential Center.
The Sirens sought a much-needed victory after falling out of a playoff spot Wednesday night, when the Ottawa Charge leapfrogged into fourth place with a 4-3 win over the Seattle Torrent. Instead, New York dropped its fifth straight game (0-0-2-3) — its longest skid of the season.
Fleet goalie and USA Olympic star Aerin Frankel stopped all 23 New York shots en route to her fourth shutout of the season, tying Montreal Victoire netminder Ann-Renée Desbiens for the League lead. Frankel improved to 11-2-2 this season; her 11 wins are tied with Desbiens for the most in the PWHL.
Boston claimed its fifth straight win (2-3-0-0), climbing back into a tie with the Victoire for first overall in the PWHL standings. They extended their winning streak in the all-time series against the Sirens to 10 games, outscoring New York 32-13 in that span. The Sirens are 2-2-3-7 all-time against the Fleet; their last victory came March 25, 2024, in a 3-2 regulation win at UBS Arena.
“I thought we played a really good game,” Sirens coach Greg Fargo stated postgame. “If we can replicate that against any team, we’re going to win a lot of hockey games.”
It wasn’t enough to get three points on Thursday, however. The Sirens didn’t make many mistakes against a stingy Fleet squad, but their biggest blunder proved costly.
Late in the opening frame, New York’s star forward Sarah Fillier handled a pass from Micah Zandee-Hart in the corner of her own defensive zone. Inexplicably, Fillier turned and sent a pass right onto the tape of Fleet rookie Ella Huber in the low slot. Huber capitalized on the egregious turnover, quickly firing a wrister underneath the glove of Sirens goalie Kayle Osborne at 16:15 of the first period.
Huber’s second tally of 2025-26 was the only goal either side mustered in 60 minutes of play. Boston appeared to make it 2-0 at 5:32 of the second period, but the goal was overturned in a sequence marked by confusion.
Sirens rookie Maddi Wheeler caught Fleet captain Megan Keller in the mask with a high stick, drawing the right arm of an official. Yet officials failed to blow the whistle when Sirens forward Elle Hartje gained possession in the corner moments later. Believing the penalty to be against Boston, Osborne headed off to the New York bench for the extra attacker. Fleet forward Laura Kluge then quickly corralled the puck and deposited it into an empty Sirens net.
After an extended review, officials waived off Kluge’s goal, but still assessed a too-many-players penalty to New York in addition to the original high-sticking penalty.
“I didn’t get a great explanation on it,” Fargo said postgame. “To add time back on the clock, which I felt was the right play, and then to add on a too-many-player penalty — I didn’t have that as an original call. It kind of felt like they went back to video and then assessed it after the fact, which was troubling. But I’ll be eager to get some kind of explanation on what happened there and why they didn’t blow it dead in the first place when we touched it.”
The head-scratching ruling left New York at a 5-on-3 disadvantage for a full two-minutes. But the Sirens penalty kill met the challenge with flying colors, holding the Fleet to just one shot on goal during the sequence.
New York drew some offensive momentum after the kill, leading to a golden opportunity off the rush for Sirens rookie Kristyna Kaltounkova. Frankel extended the left pad and denied Kaltounkova on the doorstep at 19:19 of the second.
The frame closed with a scuffle along the half wall; former Siren forward Jill Saulnier challenged Kaltounkova after the whistle and exchanged words with Fillier on her way back to the locker room.
That testiness bled into the third period, culminating in a pair of offsetting minors for Kaltounkova and Saulnier. After a stoppage in the Boston zone, Saulnier responded to a bump from Zandee-Hart by cross-checking the Sirens captain. Kaltounkova retaliated, sending the Fleet forward to the ice with a big hit.
Fleet coach Kris Sparre lauded Saulnier for her tenacity postgame.
“Jill’s great like that. She welcomes those scrums, and she’s got that competitive spirit,” Sparre noted. “New York plays a hard game. Down the stretch here, everyone’s scratching and clawing for points, and so the physicality is only going to ramp up. The teams that can hang in there are going to be the ones that stick around for a while.”
New York found itself in another 5-on-3 disadvantage after Kristin O’Neill took a slashing penalty at 3:03 of the third period, just 1:32 after a boarding penalty by Taylor Girard. Once again, the Sirens penalty kill prevailed, limiting the Fleet to four shots on goal in 3:32 of continuous power-play time.
The Sirens got a power play of their own at 8:01 of the third on a Hadley Hartmetz boarding penalty, but failed to create any significant offensive pressure. Kaltounkova recorded New York’s first shot on goal of the frame at 14:07, more than six minutes after the Hartmetz penalty.
New York mounted a stronger push in the latter stages of the third, outshooting Boston 6-0 in the final 5:32. Frankel stopped every one, securing a regulation win and her second shutout against the Sirens in 2025-26.
“It took grit and effort,” Sparre said postgame. “We have a really special group in there, and when we get into those tight games, we just find a way. Whether it’s a big play at the blue line, whether it’s a big blocked shot, whether it’s Aerin standing on her head — we find a way. And that’s why we get the points here.”
The Fleet pulled even with the Victoire for first overall at 35 points (9-3-2-2). Boston has two games in hand on Montreal and boasts a League-best .729 points percentage.
New York failed to record a point for the third time in five games; their 24 points (7-0-3-8) are tied for fifth overall in the League standings with the Toronto Sceptres. The Sirens will have a chance to retake a playoff spot when they host Ottawa on Sunday — their last home game before embarking on a four-game road stretch to close out March.
Key Takeaways after Aerin Frankel shuts out Sirens in 1-0 Fleet win
Sirens still ‘feeling good’ despite five-game losing streak
New York knows all too well how devastating a lengthy losing skid can be. The 2024-25 Sirens squad lost nine consecutive games (0-0-3-6) from Jan. 31 to March 5, effectively putting the nail in the coffin on their postseason hopes.
“Last year, we got in that losing streak, and it was hard to claw our way out of it,” Sirens alternate captain Jaime Bourbonnais reflected at training camp in November.
Once again, New York stares down a season-worst losing streak in March with playoff hopes on the line. However, Bourbonnais doesn’t sense any attrition building this time around.
“Honestly, no. I feel like it’s such a different group this year, and it just is a different energy in that room right now,” Bourbonnais said postgame. “I mean, I won’t lie, like five losses in a row — it’s not fun. But I feel like we did a lot of great things today, and we’re leaving this game feeling good about it.”
Fargo echoed her sentiments.
“I really liked our back 40 tonight,” the Sirens coach stated. “To be able to kind of tilt the ice, get some more pucks to the net, create a little more chaos offensively — felt good. A really gutsy effort by our team.”
Boston outshot New York 9-3 in the first period, but the Sirens held a 20-13 edge in shots the rest of the way. It was a vastly improved effort from the week before, when New York faltered in a 4-1 loss to the Victoire out of the Olympic break.
“Just to respond in the way that we did tonight, coming off a game that we didn’t like last Thursday — I thought we did a lot of good things that we can build on,” Fargo continued. “And so that’s what we’re going to do.”
New York can hang their hat on a stronger showing against an excellent Fleet squad, but that will only get them so far. Moral victories don’t have the same shine in March that they do in November — especially in the thick of a tight playoff race.
“We have one coming up [against Ottawa], and there’s so many games left,” Bourbonnais noted. “I think that we’re still in a really good spot.”
Kayle Osborne back to ‘usual self’ in 1-0 loss
Despite the final score, Thursday was a bounce-back effort for New York — and few needed one more than Sirens No. 1 goalie Kayle Osborne.
Last Thursday, Osborne was pulled from the game just 3:37 into the second period after surrendering three goals on six shots to Montreal. The nightmare outing included a rare puck-handling miscue from the typically sure-handed Osborne.
“We know she’ll respond really well,” Fargo asserted after the 4-1 loss. That she did.
Osborne stopped 21 of 22 shots against Boston; her lone blemish came on a dangerous unmarked look from Huber between the circles.
“I thought Kayle did a great job tonight,” Fargo lauded. “From the first minute, it was her back to herself. She held the fort down in the first period, allowed us to get our feet under us a little bit. I thought the way she played the puck was outstanding, helped our break out. And she came up big on those [penalty] kills.”
Osborne was integral to a New York penalty kill that went 6-for-6 on Thursday, shutting down a Fleet power play that entered the night tied for second Leaguewide in success rate.
“She was back to her usual self,” stated Fargo. “And it was great to see.”
Sirens penalty kill shuts down Fleet
Speaking of that penalty kill — the Sirens had quite the showing shorthanded Thursday.
New York entered play with the League’s worst penalty kill, operating at 75.0 percent on 52 opportunities. Yet the Sirens held the Fleet scoreless on six power plays, including 2:28 of 5-on-3 time.
“Obviously, they have a great power play, so I think we had to respect that, but also trust in each other,” Bourbonnais said. “I thought we were really patient and let the play develop, and then step in lanes when we could. I thought we just worked really well as a unit.”
The lengthy official delay certainly added a unique flair to the two-minute 5-on-3 sequence.
“It felt like there were three intermissions in the game, with the one that took place in the middle of the second period,” Sparre said postgame. “Tough to get some flow into the game.”
New York still ranks dead last in penalty-kill percentage (77.6 percent), although that’s subject to change if they can replicate Thursday’s showing more consistently.
Sirens set weeknight attendance record
The Sirens drew 3,765 fans for Kristyna Kaltounkova bobblehead day at Prudential Center on Thursday, setting a new team record for weeknight attendance (Monday–Thursday).
New York’s home attendance has paled in comparison to the other seven teams in the PWHL, but there’s some legitimate buzz mounting around the Sirens this spring. Upper-bowl seats will be available when the Sirens host the Charge on Sunday — a noteworthy departure from past home games at Prudential Center.
The Sirens announced on Wednesday that their April 4 game against the Torrent at Madison Square Garden is officially sold out, setting New York up to break the United States’ professional women’s hockey attendance record.
“We’ve always loved our fans,” Sirens rookie Casey O’Brien said postgame. “They’re a very passionate bunch, and we can always feel it. Even if the rink isn’t full, it’s still very loud in there.”
“It’s great to see. I mean, the fans — even tonight — the way they were getting on the officials, it was great,” added Fargo. “I know Sunday’s attendance is going to be another record for us at home, and then looking ahead to MSG, it’s something that we’re looking forward to.”
