On Friday, Nov. 28, the Seattle Torrent hosted their first home game of the 2025-26 Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) season. They welcomed the Minnesota Frost into Climate Pledge Arena, the reigning Walter Cup Champions. Despite both teams losing their first games of the season, they were both ready to give it their all in this game and get their first win. It was the Frost who took the victory with a 3-0 shutout, earning their first win of the season.
Penalty Kill Was Relatively Strong
Although this was not the end result the Torrent wanted for their first home game, they still had some strong moments. They denied the Frost three of their four power play chances in this game. Last season, the Frost had the third-best power play in the entire league with 17.9%.
Related: Pannek Scores Twice as Frost Shut Out Torrent 3-0
The second period of this game is when the penalties started trickling in. Lexie Adzija took a seat seven minutes in for interference. The Torrent killed that penalty, but then three minutes later, Danielle Serdachny took a seat for tripping. Once again, Seattle held strong with one less player on the ice and denied the Frost their chances at a power-play goal.
It was in the third period where this changed. Exactly 12 minutes into the third period, Julia Gosling took a seat for hooking. With 30 seconds left on the Frost’s power play, Grace Zumwinkle scored. However, it was unclear if the goal crossed the line, so the play went under review. It was determined the goal was, in fact, a good goal, and the Frost scored their first power-play goal of the season.
Despite this third goal for the Frost, the Torrent’s penalty kill was really strong. Both teams are comprised of incredible players, and the Torrent tried to deny the Frost at every chance they could. Not just on special teams, but at full strength, too. Seattle took 18 shots in the third period, outshooting the Frost by seven. They tried to gain control of the puck as best as they could in the third, but unfortunately, the Frost got the best of them.
Seattle Is Ready for Professional Women’s Hockey
If this game did anything, it proved that the city of Seattle is ready to champion both this team and this league. This game between the Frost and the Torrent set the new attendance record for a PWHL game on U.S. soil. With 16,014 fans in attendance, Seattle truly showed up and showed out for the Torrent.
Last season, during the takeover tour, Seattle was the first stop. On Jan. 5, 12,608 fans packed the stands to watch the Boston Fleet take on the Montreal Victoire. Over three thousand more fans showed up to see their new sports team. Several familiar faces from the first takeover tour are now playing on the Torrent, such as Hilary Knight and Cayla Barnes.
Many fans were wary of the PWHL expansion so soon after it started, especially since the original six teams are on the East Coast and the two expansion teams are on the West Coast. While many people had doubts about how well the expansion teams would do, the Torrent just put all of those concerns to rest. Women’s hockey has a spot everywhere, and both Seattle and Vancouver proved it after their home openers, as almost 15 thousand fans packed Pacific Coliseum, the first arena to be the sole home of a PWHL team.
Despite the poor result for Seattle, the fans stayed throughout the whole game and continued to cheer on their team. Seattle is already such a big sports city, but to see them rally around women’s sports the way they have with the Seattle Storm, their Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) team, and the Seattle Reign, their National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) team, the Torrent will fit right into this incredible city. Their fans will certainly not let them play in an empty arena, either.
Seattle Stays at Home
The Torrent’s next game will also be at home, when they welcome the New York Sirens on Wednesday, Dec. 3.
