Fromkin’s time with the Terriers

Senior goaltender Alissa Fromkin got her first start of the season against the University of Maine Friday night and made the most of it. As she has consistently done throughout her collegiate career, she played well in a spot start and helped the Boston University women’s hockey team win.

Fromkin’s career got off to a good start when she had eight appearances in the 2009–10 campaign. Her primary role was to play in spot starts to give senior goaltender Melissa Haber a rest. However, she performed well when she was given ice time. The freshman posted a 2–1–4 record with a 2.60 goals against average.

Her sophomore year showed some improvement, but Fromkin was overshadowed by then-freshman Kerrin Sperry. Sperry was given the bulk of the starts that season, while Fromkin made 10 appearances.

“It has been the better part of two years where [Fromkin] hasn’t gotten that much work,” said BU coach Brian Durocher. “And I think most of it wasn’t because of her. It was Kerrin Sperry taking the position and running with it and really playing well.”

Fromkin dealt with a backup role in her freshman year, as well, so this was common territory for her. She showed improvement from her first season, posting a 6–3–1 record with a 2.24 goals-against average and a .900 save-percentage. She also recorded her first career shutout in a 4–0 win over Brown University.

However, Fromkin did not get a chance to improve upon her sophomore campaign, as she suffered an injury after getting only one start early in the 2011–12 season. The goaltender tore her labrum and has been recovering from surgery since then.

In an exhibition game against the Boston Blades on Oct. 6 this season, Fromkin had a setback in her recovery.

“I struggled a little bit after my first time I played against the Blades, so I have to take a few steps back and take it slower,” Fromkin said.

Durocher spoke about the importance of getting the senior goaltender back in action.

“One of the things we’ve got to do is certainly get her back in the lineup and back in action,” Durocher said. “When it’s all said and done, we have got to have two goalies ready, because on any given day somebody comes up sick or ill or gets an injury, you kick yourself in the tail if you didn’t have somebody at least prepared to move forward and take the reins for a while.”

Friday night’s victory against Maine (1–5, 1–3 Hockey East) was a crucial won for BU (7–1, 3–0 Hockey East) not only because of the progress made in conference play, but because Fromkin showed many positives in her first start of the season.

The senior allowed two goals and made 16 saves in the 4–2 victory against a team that Durocher said he was not handling lightly.

“When somebody has been out for a while and hasn’t played that much, don’t just put them in a weak game. Put them in a game that’s important,” Durocher said. “This was an important game. It’s a league game, and it’s a team that beat us two out of three last year.”

However, the goaltender’s health was the most important question coming out of her first start of the season. Fromkin and Durocher had only good news to report on that front.

“She’s healthy, and anything we can do to build her confidence will be a real plus if we get to that point down the road where Kerrin [Sperry] has an injury or something goes wrong,” Durocher said.

The senior also said the best is yet to come for her this season.

“It’s definitely good to get acclimated in looking to get a more active role coming up,” Fromkin said. “I’m looking to pick it up right now.”

Fromkin has shown patience in waiting for ice time throughout her collegiate career, and she has played well in many of the opportunities she has been given. Although the fantastic play of Kerrin Sperry will prevent her from getting too many starts this season, look for Fromkin to continue her opportunistic play.