Aerin Frankel Named 2021 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award Winner

By: USA Hockey

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Senior goaltender Aerin Frankel (Briarcliff Manor, N.Y.) from Northeastern University was named the 24th recipient of the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award today as the top player in NCAA Division I women’s ice hockey.

“Aerin has been the backbone of our team the past four seasons and this year has been her best,” said Dave Flint, head women’s ice hockey coach at Northeastern. “She is one of, if not the, most competitive goalies I have coached which I feel is the most important quality in a goaltender. The confidence the team has in her allows us to play the way we want to. Her numbers are off the charts and this year she has been rewriting the record books.”

Since joining the Huskies program in 2017, Frankel has been a crucial piece to Northeastern’s successes.  As an alternate captain in 2020-21, she helped the team to a 22-2-1 record and a national runner-up finish. Frankel led the nation in nearly every statistical category, including goals against average (0.81), save percentage (.965), goalie winning percentage (.891) and shutouts (9).https://www.youtube.com/embed/wrnPYnXRWpI

Named Hockey East Player of the Year and Hockey East Goaltender of the Year, Frankel helped the Huskies to their fourth straight league post-season tournament title after completing the regular season as the top-ranked team in the conference. She paced the HEA in goals against average (0.65), save percentage (.971) and goalie winning percentage (.912). In addition, Frankel twice earned Hockey East Defensive Player of the Week and Hockey East Goaltender of the Month honors and gained Hockey East Player of the Week laurels on four occasions.

Frankel was honored as the NCAA Goaltender of the Month and Women’s Hockey Commissioners Association National Goaltender of the Month in January and was also awarded the PNC Bank Three-Stars Award.https://www.youtube.com/embed/4GauVwIo2y4

Frankel was selected as the recipient of the 2021 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award from a group of three finalists that included senior forward Daryl Watts from the University of Wisconsin and senior forward Grace Zumwinkle from the University of Minnesota.

NOTES: Frankel is the fourth goaltender to win the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award, following Ann-Renee Desbiens (University of Wisconsin/2017), Jessie Vetter (University of Wisconsin/2009) and Ali Brewer (Brown University/2000) … The third Northeastern player to be named as the recipient, Frankel joined Kendall Coyne Schofield, who won in 2016, and Brooke Whitney, who took the honor in 2002 … The 2021 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award winner and the top-three finalists were chosen by a 13-person selection committee made up of NCAA Division I women’s ice hockey coaches, representatives of print and broadcast media, an at-large member and a representative of USA Hockey, the national governing body for the sport of ice hockey in the United States. The independent accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP, tabulated the ballots

RECIPIENTS