Paris Alston: This is GBH’s Morning Edition. Tonight will be an exciting one in Lowell as the puck drops for game five of the Professional Women’s Hockey League finals. Boston will face off against Minnesota tonight at 7 p.m. at the Tsongas arena, looking to become the first team ever to hoist the Walter Cup. It marks a big moment for the team and for women’s sports in the greater Boston area. And joining us to talk about that and the preview of the game is Rev. Laura Everett, who runs the blog Boston Women’s Sports. Good morning.
Rev. Laura Everett: Hi, Paris.
Alston: So tickets are sold out for tonight’s game. In fact, anyone who is looking to get one last minute will have to pay between $200 and $2,000 on the secondary market. So, Rev. Everett, as someone who has been following women’s sports for a long time, what is the significance of this moment?
Everett: Well, I think we need a bigger stadium, Paris. It’s a great sign of how much enthusiasm there is for women’s sports across the region.
Alston: What are you looking forward to most for tonight’s game?
Everett: Well, this is a decisive game five. Boston won in Minnesota on their home ice in a decisive, really wild double overtime to send the series back to Boston, back to Lowell, to the Tsongas arena. So this game is going to be extra exciting tonight.
Alston: And for anyone who hasn’t been watching this series, what have been some of the highlights? Who have been some of the key players to really make a splash on the ice?
Everett: Oh my gosh. You know, Boston has an incredibly packed team, but the folks to watch for are certainly our goalie, Aerin Frankel. Folks have taken to calling her the Green Monster. She’s got some of the highest save percentages in the league. Aerin Frankel, our goalkeeper, is just what is known as a brick wall. And then we have just an incredibly deep offensive line. People have been switching up all over the place, but certainly some players to watch for are our captain, Hilary Knight. She’s an essential player on the U.S. women’s national team. And then a Finnish player, Susanna Tapani. She is so popular in her home country that there are reporters from Finland who have been showing up as well. And then a Canadian player, Jamie Lee Rattray, is also just another incredible, essential player to the game. And Loren Gabel, who is known to many college fans here in Boston, also, has been back from injury. We’ve got an incredibly deep bench and just a wonderful team.
Alston: Yes, lots of stars there. Also Alina Müller, right? The other night hit that consequential double overtime goal to help get the team to game five.
Everett: Yes. Yes. And another really well known star from the Beanpot here in Boston. Yes. Many players who played here during their college years.
Alston: Now tonight’s game comes, and this whole moment, after a thrilling women’s March Madness, for example, where we saw the championship team, or the game rather, between undefeated South Carolina and Iowa, garnering record viewership. And, of course, Caitlin Clark’s WNBA debut averaged 2.1 million viewers. And speaking of needing a bigger stadium, three teams had to move to bigger arenas to keep up with demand for seeing her. So what do you think is sustaining this momentum across the board for women’s sports right now?
Everett: Look, this is a long time coming. And I say that this is also, unfortunately, a consequence of artificial market suppression. There are so many women who have been playing so long, but really haven’t received all of the investment and support that women have been to. This is a consequence of Title IX, over 50 years in the making. But leagues, investors, the infrastructure just hasn’t been there. But now we’re really seeing that there is an audience, there are players, there are fans, and there are people willing to pay good money to watch an excellent product. There are fans that want to come to these games. We need bigger arenas, bigger stadiums, more merch. They’ve sold out of all of the jerseys that are available for the PWHL Boston, there are people who want to come and want to pay good money and want more seats. The demand is there for all of this. I think investors should be getting in right now.
Alston: Well, that is Reverend Laura Everett, who runs the blog Boston Women’s Sports. Reverend, thank you so much.
Everett: Thanks for having me, Paris.
Alston: You are listening to GBH News.
Excitement is building among fans of the Professional Women’s Hockey League’s Boston team, as the team prepares for Game 5 of the first-ever league finals Wednesday.
Boston will face off against Minnesota tonight at 7 p.m. at the Tsongas arena in Lowell, looking to become the first team ever to hoist the Walter Cup.
Tickets are sold out for tonight’s game, and anyone who is looking to get one last minute will have to pay between $200 and $2,000 on the secondary market.
It marks a big moment for the team and for women’s sports in the greater Boston area, said Rev. Laura Everett, who runs the blog Boston Women’s Sports.
“I think we need a bigger stadium,” Everett told GBH Morning Edition co-host Paris Alston. “It’s a great sign of how much enthusiasm there is for women’s sports across the region.”
During Game 4 in Minnesota Sunday, Boston won 1-0 in double overtime.
“Boston has an incredibly packed team,” Everett said.
Some people she will be keeping an eye on include Captain Hilary Knight, who also plays for the U.S. women’s national team; Forward Susanna Tapani, who has drawn reporters from her native Finland to Boston for the game; Jamie Lee Rattray, whom Everett called an “incredible, essential player,” and Loren Gabel, who played for Clarkson University.
Everett is also looking forward to seeing soalie Aerin Frankel.
“Folks have taken to calling her the Green Monster. She’s got some of the highest save percentages in the league,” Everett said.
Tonight’s game comes after a thrilling women’s March Madness in which women’s games garnered record viewership, and Caitlin Clark’s WNBA debut, which averaged 2.1 million viewers.
Everett said this moment in professional women’s sports has been a long time coming, a consequence of Title IX.
“This is also, unfortunately, a consequence of artificial market suppression,” she said. “There are so many women who have been playing so long, but really haven’t received all of the investment and support. … Leagues, investors, the infrastructure just hasn’t been there.”
The popularity of these games shows that there is a market for professional women’s sports, she said.
“We’re really seeing that there is an audience, there are players, there are fans, and there are people willing to pay good money to watch an excellent product,” she said. “The demand is there for all of this. I think investors should be getting in right now.”