Sign up for the Today newsletter
Get everything you need to know to start your day, delivered right to your inbox every morning.
As her team stands at the halfway point of its inaugural Professional Women’s Hockey League season, Boston general manager Danielle Marmer feels her squad has accomplished quite a bit, but still has plenty to prove.
Fresh off a big 2-0 road win last weekend in Minnesota, Boston (4-2-2-4) has posted back-to-back regulation wins for the first time. They have 18 points, moving them into sole possession of fourth place, two points ahead of Ottawa and New York, and just three shy of third-place Toronto.
As they hit the road against Montreal on Saturday at Verdun Auditorium, Boston will look to maintain its winning ways.
“I think we’re getting into a groove,” said Marmer. “We’re excited about the team we have. We’ve got an awesome group of hockey players. It’s a special group and I’m excited about the second half.”
It hasn’t been easy. Boston has struggled to find its identity, especially on home ice. The team has just two victories at the Tsongas Center in eight games, including a 4-3 overtime win against Ottawa on Jan. 27. But the squad is hoping their back-to-back wins, including its stellar 3-1 road victory over Ottawa on Feb. 21, will serve as a springboard in the month ahead.
“We’ve had a tough stretch at home for a bit,” said Marmer. “February was a long month for us with the all-star break and rivalry series, so to cram in a bunch of games for that month with no breaks and not get the outcome that we wanted was hard at times. But I think that those are moments in seasons that define teams. You learn a lot from the losses. I’m happy with how we bounced back the past two games.”
According to Boston defenseman Kaleigh Fratkin, the team has been working hard at turning things around.
“We’ve had some highs and lows over those wins and overtime losses,” said Fratkin. “We’ve run the gamut in all outcomes, but overall we’ve been doing a good job building on each game.”
“Like all the teams, we’re trying to find our footing in this league,” said assistant captain Jamie Lee Rattray. “I think we’re finally starting to hit our stride. We’ve had our ups and downs in terms of consistency, but I really think we’re starting to figure out what works for our group. The two wins in two games definitely helps.”
Goaltender Aerin Frankel made 41 saves for her first shutout of the season, as Boston blanked Minnesota, 2-0, last Sunday in front of 10,186 PWHL fans at the Xcel Energy Center.
Frankel’s shutout came despite Boston being outshot in all three periods, including a 15-7 blitz in the third with Minnesota trailing by a goal. The 24-year-old Northeastern product has now posted back-to-back regulation wins, sporting a 1.72 goals against average, third best in the league, and .940 save percentage.
“She’s been phenomenal,” said Marmer. “That’s why we took her in free agency, because we knew how valuable she would be for this group. We believe in all the goaltenders. We wanted to give everyone an opportunity to show what we had with her and Emma (Soderberg). Aerin has just been so solid that it’s hard not to go back with her. It’s exciting to see her take her game to where we know it could be.”
Forward Alina Müller and defenseman Meghan Keller lead Boston’s attack with 10 points each. The pair are tied for fourth overall among the PWHL scoring leaders.
A Northeastern University product and Boston’s top overall draft pick, Müller is also tied for the league lead with eight assists. She has adapted well to the pro game.
“Alina has stepped in and has been able to make an impact right off the bat,” said Marmer. “Her confidence and composure with the puck on her stick is so impressive for her age. We have high expectations for her to continue to develop her game.”
Meanwhile, Keller continues to loom large on the Boston blueline. The former Boston College Eagle is tied for the scoring lead among PWHL defenders with 10 points. She has three goals and seven assists in her first 12 games.
“I think Megan the best defenseman in the world,” said Marmer. “She just dominates. I wouldn’t want to go into a corner with her. I think she makes other players feel that same way. They don’t want to end up in a battle with her, which is a special quality. She’s just a generational player in my opinion.”
Forwards Loren Gabel, new acquisition Susanna Tapani and Rattray round out the top five Boston scorers with seven points each.
Sunday’s game at Xcel Energy Center in Minnesota generated the third-highest attendance figure of the season (10,186). More than one-third of all first-half games were sold out.
The league set a women’s hockey attendance record with a crowd of 19,285 on Feb. 16 at Scotiabank Arena for the Battle on Bay Street featuring Montréal at Toronto. Their total first-half attendance is 183,925 for an average of 5,109 per game.
“It’s exceeded expectations by a long shot,” said Marmer. “We felt the product was exciting enough, but just didn’t know if we were going to get it in front of enough people. You can see the success in the numbers.”
“A lot of us were pretty optimistic about what the league could do in the first year,” said Rattray. “I’ve been really happy with the people that have shown up everywhere. The buzz is there.”

This time, the people marched in resistance to the harsh treatment of immigrants by the Trump administration.
“We descend from Immigrants and Revolutionaries,” read a battle cry beamed onto the side of the brick meeting house Tuesday.
“The society that stops seeing the people at the grocery line or the people that ride the bus with us, as human beings with beating hearts, then it’s not far off before our society devolves into no society at all,” Gilberto Calderin, director of advocacy at the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition said to the crowd of hundreds.
The protest was organized by activist groups Boston Indivisible and Mass 50501, and began at the Irish Famine Memorial Plaza, just steps from the meeting house.
The lively crowd held up signs, waved American flags, and chanted during the march along Milk Street and Congress Street to the harbor.
Janet England of Brighton held a sign that read, “Democracy Needs Courage.”
The protesters, she said are “true patriots because we want freedom and democracy.”
“Although protest is a long game, we can’t give up. If you think about women’s suffrage, gay rights, the civil rights movement, it took years, but we just can’t give up,” she said.
Gloria Krusemeyer, from Alrington, used a walker to join the march.
“I’m irritated that I haven’t done more, and I’m just lucky that I can walk fast enough to be doing this,” she said.
Rick Mueller, from Cambridge, was dressed as Uncle Sam and held a large sign that read, “Liberty and Justice For All.”
“We’re fighting for America, so I’m gonna be America,” he said of his costume.
He handed small American flags out to protesters who waved them enthusiastically.
Ice dumping duties was limited to volunteers and select people.
Among them was Sarah, a mother who brought her 4-year-old daughter, Fiona.
Sarah declined to share her last name for her daughter’s safety.
After throwing ice into the harbor, Fiona shyly said that she wanted to come to the protest to “help families stay together.”
Through tears, Sarah said her decision to bring along Fiona came from wanting to teach her daughter to care about people from all walks of life.
“Kindness and compassion are things we learn in kindergarten and she will be in kindergarten so it’s really important for her to be kind and compassionate,” Sarah said, kissing her daughter’s check.
Likewise, Sara Sievers, from Cambridge, brought her parents, sister, her nephews and niece to dump ice.
“I think this is one of the most brutal regimes we’ve had in this country, and I want my niece and nephew to remember that it’s important to protest, and that we in Boston are part of a proud tradition of dumping things into the harbor with which we disagree,” Sievers said.
The family wore costumes of historical figures including Abigail Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and King Charles.
As the protest came to a close, Martha Laposata, spokesperson for Boston Indivisible said she wanted protestors to walk away knowing their voices matter.
“We cannot stand down,” Laposata said. “When people rise up against an authoritarian government, if they stay consistent and they keep growing, ultimately an authoritarian government will stand down.”
Camille Bugayong can be reached at camille.bugayong@globe.com.
Crime
An MIT professor was shot and killed in Brookline on Monday night.
Brookline police responded a report of a man shot in his home on Gibbs Street, according to the Norfolk County District Attorney’s Office.
Nuno F.G. Loureiro, 47, was transported to a local hospital and was pronounced dead on Tuesday morning, the DA says.
Loureiro was the director of MIT’s Plasma Science and Fusion Center and a professor of nuclear science and engineering and physics. Originally from Portugal, the Portuguese Minister of Foreign Affairs announced his death in a regulatory hearing before the Committee on Foreign Affairs and Portuguese Communities on Tuesday, according to CNN.
“Sadly, I can confirm that Professor Nuno Loureiro, who died early this morning, was a current MIT faculty member in the departments of Nuclear Science & Engineering and Physics, as well as the Director of MIT’s Plasma Science and Fusion Center. Our deepest sympathies are with his family, students, colleagues, and all those who are grieving,” an MIT spokesperson wrote in a statement.
In January, Loureiro was honored as one of nearly 400 scientists and engineers with the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers from former president Joe Biden.
The investigation into the homicide remains ongoing. No further information was released.
Get everything you need to know to start your day, delivered right to your inbox every morning.
A man was hospitalized after being shot Monday night in Brookline, Massachusetts.
The shooting happened on Gibbs Street. There was a large police presence at the scene.
The victim was brought to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. His condition was not known.
Police said the victim was shot three times and grazed by another round.
Authorities did not say if any arrests had been made.
No further information was immediately available.
Addy Brown motivated to step up in Audi Crooks’ absence vs. UNI
LIVE UPDATES: Mudslide, road closures across Western Washington
Matt Campbell reportedly bringing longtime Iowa State staffer to Penn State as 1st hire
How much snow did Iowa get? See Iowa’s latest snowfall totals
Man shot, killed at downtown Cleveland nightclub: EMS
Chiefs’ offensive line woes deepen as Wanya Morris exits with knee injury against Texans
Elementary-aged student killed in school bus crash in southern Maine
The Game Awards are losing their luster