Chappaqua native helps Team USA secure a gold medal
A crucial player to help bring home the win was goaltender Aerin Frankel.
More Stories
Team USA women's hockey beat Canada and secured the gold medal.
A crucial player to help bring home the win was goaltender Aerin Frankel.
Frankel is from Chappaqua and grew up playing at the Westchester Skating Academy.
She was part of the Vipers organization.
Frankel is an inspiration to the current youth Viper hockey players.
"If I try hard enough, I could be an Olympic player, too," said Luca Kamanja, a goalie for the Vipers organization.
"It's very cool. It shows that Vipers can do anything that they dream of. You just have to keep trying," said Kaia Briggs, a defensive hockey player.
It held a watch party to cheer on Frankel and her teammates.
The room was filled with her former coaches, people who knew her and youth hockey players.
"Unbelievable. I just, I have no words for this. This is the greatest thing," said David Mensi, president of the Vipers organization.
"When she was in net, all the kids knew that they had a chance at any game," said her former coach Ron Caccavale.
Frankel made history during her first ever Olympic run. She is the first goaltender in Olympic women's hockey history to record three shutouts in a single tournament.
"Aerin, congratulations. You deserve it," said Anthony Mensi, who grew up watching Frankel play.
