Team USA’s women’s hockey roster is absolutely stacked. Captain Hilary Knight is a five-time Olympian and leads the likes of fellow veterans Kendall Coyne Schofield, Lee Stecklein, Alex Carpenter and Megan Keller.
The 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics has brought in a whole new crop of talented young players. Among them is Jewish goalie Aerin Frankel.
Here are 18 things to know about her.
1. Aerin Frankel was born on May 24, 1999 in Briarcliff Manor, New York.
2. She’s a Gemini!
3. Her middle name is Jordan, which descends from the Hebrew word “yarden.” It means to “descend” or “flow down.”
4. She grew up playing knee hockey with her cousins and brother and learned how to skate at the age of 4. She started playing hockey not too long after that.
“I think I fell in love with it through learning [that] I had a lot of fun just skating around without the hockey aspect, and I was like, ‘Oh, hey, I can play a sport with this,’” Aerin told The Huntington News in 2019.
5. At age 9 she transitioned to playing hockey goaltender, realizing that as a goalie she wouldn’t have to leave the ice.
6. Aerin grew up playing hockey with boys clubs.
7. She enrolled in Shattuck St. Mary’s School, a private school in Minnesota with an elite hockey program, during her sophomore year. As part of the Shattuck St. Mary’s hockey team, she won three USA Hockey national titles, had 106 wins, a .945 save percentage and 39 shutouts.
8. Aerin attended Northeastern University for college where she played on the Huskies hockey team from 2017-2022. (In her last year, Aerin was a graduate student.) Her studies there included criminal justice, psychology and Spanish.
9. In 2021, Aerin received the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award for the top female college ice hockey player in the U.S. Some other honors include being named WHCA 2021 Goalie of the Year, being named to the 2021 NCAA All-Tournament Team and the Jewish Sports Review First-Team All-America in 2018.
10. Aerin joined the Professional Women’s Hockey Players Association in 2022 and played from Team Adidas. The next year, the PWHPA transformed into the Professional Women’s Hockey League and Aerin signed with the Boston Fleet.
“Boston is my home and the city that I love,” Aerin said following her signing with the Fleet. “Having the opportunity to play here professionally in front of the greatest sports fans is a dream come true. I am honored and extremely grateful for the opportunity to represent Boston in the PWHL.”
11. Her nickname is Boston is the “Green Monster,” after Fenway Park’s famous left field wall.
12. So naturally, Aerin and Wally Red Sox had to collab:
13. Three words Aerin would use to describe herself on the ice are “explosive,” “competitive” and “athletic.”
14. She has represented Team USA at five World Championships from 2021-2025, winning the gold in 2023 and 2025. In 2021, 2022 and 2024 she won the silver medal with the Americans.
15. Aerin was named to the U.S. women’s hockey team 2026 Olympic roster on January 2, 2026. “It’s a dream come true to represent @usahockey at the Olympics!” she wrote on Instagram.
16. After learning she made the Olympic team, Aerin’s first call was to her parents. Now, her mask for the Olympics features her parents’ and brother’s initials on the back!
17. She has an Instagram account dedicated to ranking Caesar salads!
18. Aerin has two shutouts so far in her debut Olympic tournament! She shut-out both Canada (20 saves) and Finland (11 saves). She also made 13 saves against Czechia in her first game.
