USA Hockey announced Thursday that Northeastern goalie Aerin Frankel has been named the 2021 Bob Allen Women’s Player of the Year for the 2020-21 season.
The award is named in honor of the late Bob Allen who was an ardent supporter of women’s hockey throughout his career.
After an abrupt ending to the 2019-20 collegiate season, Frankel returned for her senior campaign in 2020-21 and helped Northeastern to a 22-2-1 record and national runner-up finish, the best in program history.
Serving as an alternate captain, she assisted in leading the Huskies to their fourth straight league postseason tournament title after completing the regular season as the top-ranked team in Hockey East.
Frankel closed out her final campaign earning the 2021 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award. She also garnered many other accolades, including being named Women’s Hockey Commissioners Association Goalie of the Year, Hockey East Player of the Year, and Hockey East Goaltender of the Year, as well as earning a spot on the NCAA All-Tournament Team and being named NCAA Goaltender of the Month (January) and WHCA National Goaltender of the Month (January).
She led the nation in nearly every statistical category, including GAA (0.81), save percentage (.965), goalie winning percentage (.891), and shutouts (9). Within the conference, she paced the league in goals against average (0.65), save percentage (.971), and goalie winning percentage (.912).
In March, the Chappaqua, N.Y, native was named to the 2021 U.S. Women’s National Team that was set to play in the IIHF Women’s World Championship in April. Unfortunately, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the world championship was postponed until late August.
