Sports News

Playoffs-bound Fleet come to life late in regular-season finale to shut out the Sirens, await first-place fate

Boston has locked up home-ice advantage through at least the first round of the playoffs.

Fleet forward Susanna Tapani celebrates the game's opening goal on a deflection by linemate Jessie Eldridge (bottom right) in Saturday's win over the Sirens at a sold-out Tsongas Center. John Tlumacki/Globe Staff

By Emma Healy

April 25, 2026

3 minutes to read

LOWELL — The version of the Fleet who clinched a playoff spot nearly a month ago was nowhere to be found through two periods against the Sirens on Saturday at Tsongas Center.

Boston managed just one shot on goal in the first period and looked nothing like the dominant team that became the first group to clinch a spot in the Walter Cup playoffs back in March. That is until Jessie Eldridge broke a scoreless deadlock early in the third period, and then the floodgates opened.

Eldridge scored at 2:53 of the final frame, and the Fleet added three more goals to beat New York, 4-0, in their regular-season finale in front of a sellout crowd of 6,120.

With the opening goal, Eldridge extended her point streak to four games, and has scored or assisted on eight of Boston’s last 12 goals. Goaltender Aerin Frankel made 30 saves for her league-record eighth shutout of the season.

The Fleet looked sluggish out of the gate for the second game in a row — following a 2-1 overtime loss to Ottawa on Wednesday — but coach Kris Sparre said he isn’t worried about that trend carrying over to the playoffs.

“I’m not concerned whatsoever about Game 1 at home, the way we’re going to start,” Sparre said. “We put it behind us. We close the door on the regular season. We get ourselves ready.”

Boston won’t know its playoff opponent until after the remainder of Saturday’s slate of four games, but the Fleet have locked up home-ice advantage through at least the first round. They will open their best-of-five semifinal series at Tsongas Thursday night (7 p.m.), and Game 2 will be May 2 (time TBA).

Fleet fans lit up the Tsongas Center during pregame ceremonies as the home team wrapped up the regular season. – John Tlumacki/Globe Staff

The Fleet (16-5-4-5, 62 points) can secure first place and the opportunity to select their first-round opponent with a loss of any kind by Montreal (60 points with one to play) in the Victoire’s finale Saturday night in Seattle against the Torrent. The first-place team will have 24 hours after the conclusion of the Victoire-Torrent game to select its semifinal opponent between the third- and fourth-place teams. The selection will be announced Sunday.

New York, eliminated from playoff contention and out of the running for the first overall pick in the entry draft, was playing for little more than pride. And yet the Sirens outshot the Fleet by a 16-1 margin in the first period, and 24-8 through two.

Sparre joked after the game that the coffee maker in the locker room was broken. But Frankel, who is a leading candidate for both MVP and Goaltender of the Year, was in top form from the jump.

“If I have to bail us out a little bit in the first to get things going, then that’s what we’ll do,” Frankel said.

Fleet goalie Aerin Frankel fights off a shot up high to record one of her 30 saves as she earned her PWHL-best eighth shutout of the season. *– John Tlumacki/Globe Staff*

As the offensive slump continued into the second period, alternate captain Jamie Lee Rattray told the players on the bench that it felt like the crowd was just waiting to erupt.

So when Eldridge tipped a Megan Keller point shot past Sirens goaltender Callie Shanahan (20 saves) early in the third period, the fans nearly drowned out the goal horn with their cheers. It was Eldridge’s 14th goal of the season.

“The crowd stayed behind us, and that’s what you need,” Sparre said. “That’s what home-ice advantage is all about, so we’re happy about being able to have that in the first round at least.”

Ella Huber doubled the lead at 7:28, collecting a rebound just outside the crease and firing it past Shanahan. Haley Winn’s power-play one-timer from the blue line with 6:17 remaining made it 3-0, with Eldridge picking up an assist.

New York pulled Shanahan for an extra attacker while on a power play, and Jill Saulnier capitalized with a shorthanded empty-net goal with 5:04 on the clock to close out the scoring. Liz Schepers picked up two assists in the third-period outburst.

Neither Sparre nor his players plan to stay up to watch the Victoire game on the west coast that will decide first place. Keller said the feeling in the locker room is that it doesn’t matter who they play.

“It’s a fresh slate for everybody,” said Keller, who had two assists in the win. “What happened in the regular season doesn’t matter, and playoffs is taken to a whole other level.”