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Aerin Frankel Named 2021 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award Winner

03/27/2021, 12:45pm MDT
By USA Hockey

Goaltender led nation in goals against average, save percentage, and shutouts

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).

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.

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

Year Name School Position Hometown
2024 Izzy Daniel Cornell University Forward Minneapolis, Minn.
2023 Sophie Jaques Ohio State University Defender Toronto, Ont.
2022 Taylor Heise University of Minnesota Forward Lake City, Minn.
2021 Aerin Frankel Northeastern University Goalie Briarcliff Manor, N.Y.
2020 Elizabeth Giguere Clarkson University Forward Quebec City, Que.
2019 Loren Gabel Clarkson University Forward Kitchener, Ont.
2018 Daryl Watts Boston College Forward Toronto, Ont.
2017 Ann-Renée Desbiens University of Wisconsin Goalie La Malbaie, Que.
2016 Kendall Coyne Northeastern University Forward Palos Heights, Ill.
2015 Alex Carpenter Boston College Forward North Reading, Mass.
2014 Jamie Lee Rattray Clarkson University Forward Kanata, Ont.
2013 Amanda Kessel University of Minnesota Forward Madison, Wis.
2012 Brianna Decker University of Wisconsin Forward Dousman, Wis.
2011 Meghan Duggan University of Wisconsin Forward Danvers, Mass.
2010 Vicki Bendus Mercyhurst College Forward Wasaga Beach, Ont.
2009 Jessie Vetter University of Wisconsin Goalie Cottage Grove, Wis.
2008 Sarah Vaillancourt Harvard University  Forward  Sherbrooke, Que. 
2007 Julie Chu Harvard University Forward Fairfield, Conn.
2006 Sara Bauer University of Wisconsin Forward St. Catharines, Ont.
2005 Krissy Wendell University of Minnesota Forward Brooklyn Park, Minn.
2004 Angela Ruggiero Harvard University Defender Harper Woods, Mich.
2003 Jennifer Botterill Harvard University Forward Winnipeg, Man.
2002 Brooke Whitney Northeastern University Forward Snohomish, Wash.
2001 Jennifer Botterill Harvard University Forward Winnipeg, Man.
2000 Ali Brewer Brown University Goalie Racine, Wis.
1999 A.J. Mleczko Harvard University Forward Nantucket, Mass.
1998 Brandy Fisher University of New Hampshire Forward Potsdam, N.Y.

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