Fleet Anchor in First Playoff Spot

The Boston Fleet are playoff bound after clinching their spot in a dominant weekend on the road as they became the fastest team to clinch a spot with only 24 games played. 

The Fleets weekend kicked off in Toronto Friday night entering the match off back-to-back Aerin Frankel shutouts, the streak continued as Frankel found her third shutout in a row. Up front it was Liz Schepers controlling the action, finding the game-winner on the opening goal in the first period, then the insurance goal in the second. Adding to the score was Jessie Eldridge and Sophie Shirley. 

The Fleet then shipped off to Minnesota where they needed only one point, after the Sceptres loss Sunday afternoon. But why get one when you can get 3? 

In a dominant first period, Haley Winn kicked off the scoring followed by Sophie Shirley while holding the Frost to only 5 shots. In the second the Frost fired back, tying the game, before Minnesota native and former Frost, Liz Schepers found another game winner. In the third Sophie Shirley found the insurance goal locking in their playoff berth. 

The game also saw the debut of Amanda Thiele in net. Ahead of the game Kris Sparre had nothing but good things to say, but you never truly know how well a player will perform until their in a game. And Theile did not disappoint, turning away 21  shots from the league's strongest offence. With her performance in Minnesota expect to see Thiele slot into the lineup more often as we close in on the playoffs, while Frankel will still remain the Fleets starter Theile gives her the time and space to rest and recover as Boston looks to make another deep playoff run. 

The Fleet now look to finish their season strong as they play for positioning. The first place team at the end of the regular season gets to pick their opponent for the first round of playoffs, between third or fourth place. But is that a position you want? Based on PWHL history, maybe not, as both teams who selected were eliminated in the first round.

Follow along @beckpointmedia and stay tuned for more PWHL coverage as the countdown to playoffs continues.