Frost fall to New York Sirens in front of record crowd for a professional women’s hockey game in the United States

DETROIT — Paetyn Levis scored a tiebreaking goal late in the first period and Corinne Schroeder stopped 33 shots, lifting the New York Sirens to a 4-1 win over the Minnesota Frost on Sunday night.

The game drew 14,288 fans, setting an attendance record for a professional women’s hockey game in the United States.

The game at Little Caesars Arena was part of the Professional Women’s Hockey League’s Takeover Tour.

Minnesota’s Grace Zumwinkle scored 6:08 into the game and Frost goalie Nicole Hensley made 20 saves.

Jaime Bourbonnais pulled the Sirens into a 1-all tie midway through the first period and Sarah Fillier added an empty-net goal late in the game.

“It’s another extremely, big win for the sport globally,” Frost forward Kendall Coyne Schofield said, acknowledging the record crowd. “It’s important to tip our hockey helmet to Detroit.”

Denver drew 14,018 fans to set the previous U.S. record two months ago in another neutral-site game featuring the Frost and the Montreal Victoire.

The world attendance record for a women’s hockey was set nearly a year ago when 21,105 people were in the stands for a PWHL game between Montreal and Toronto in the NHL Canadiens’ arena.

The largest crowd to watch a women’s hockey game in the U.S. was set in 2017 when 15,359 attended St. Cloud State’s game at Wisconsin. In 2022 in Seattle, 14,551 fans watched the U.S. women’s national team beat Canada.

During the first period of the Frost-Sirens game, the PWHL announced more than 1 million fans have attended games since the league made its debut last season. Players from both teams gave fans in the stands pucks that commemorated the milestone.

The six-team league is averaging more than 7,000 fans a game after drawing 5,500 fans per game during the regular season last year.

St. Louis is hosting the ninth and final stop of the Takeover Tour on March 29 when the Ottawa Charge face the Boston Fleet with a little more than a month left in the regular season.