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In front of 16,014 fans — breaking the record for the largest crowd for a women’s hockey game in a U.S. arena — the Minnesota Frost shutout the 3-0 Seattle Torrent at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle on Friday.
The Torrent are one of two new teams in the Professional Women’s Hockey League this season, joining the Vancouver Goldeneyes in what is now an eight-team league.
Frost forward Kelly Pannek led the way for Minnesota, notching two goals, backed by goaltender Nicole Hensley making 30 saves to earn a shutout in her first start of the season.
“I think we want to win every single night,” Hensley said. “We know it’s a long season and we try to stack points on top of each other.”
The visiting Frost opened the scoring late in the first period, with Pannek netting her first goal of the season. After a scoreless middle frame, Seattle pushed back early in the third on the power play, but the Frost penalty kill held firm as Hensley delivered two point-blank stops to preserve the lead.
After Pannek notched her second of the afternoon midway through the third, Grace Zumwinkle gave the Frost a 3-0 lead moments later with a power play maker, her first tally of the campaign. Torrent goaltender Corinne Schroeder turned aside 22 shots in her home debut, making her second straight start of the season.
Pannek said she loved playing in front of a big crowd in Seattle.
“I was fortunate enough to play in a U.S.-Canada game here,” she said. “It was a great crowd there, so we knew once this market was announced they were going to have great fan support. They’ve supported women’s sports across all the other leagues. It’s fun to play in buildings like this when fans are engaged and loud.”
The crowd of 16,014 set multiple U.S. attendance benchmarks: it established a new U.S. arena record for a women’s hockey game by topping the 15,359 for an NCAA game between the University of Wisconsin-Madison and visiting St. Cloud State University on Jan. 14, 2017, surpassed the U.S. record for a professional women’s hockey game of 14,288 (Mar. 16, 2025, at the PWHL Takeover Tour in Detroit), topped the previous Climate Pledge Arena record for a women’s hockey game of 14,551 fans for the 2022 Rivalry Series, and became the highest-attended primary home venue game in PWHL history.
The Frost travel to Ottawa for a game against the Charge on Tuesday.
English (US) ·