The Professional Women’s Hockey League is in full swing, and Boston is appropriately home to one of the league’s original six teams.
PWHL Boston’s 15 forwards, eight defenders, and three goaltenders are among the best of the best in women’s ice hockey – one of the perks of a six-team league. The majority of these players’ careers to date are jam-packed with enough impressive stats and accolades to write individual profiles. But, for now, here’s a taste of what PWHL Boston’s roster has to offer for the 2024 season.
PWHL Boston Forwards
#9 – Sophie Shirley
Sophie Shirley is a 24-year-old right-handed shooter from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. The former member of the Boston Pride of the Premier Hockey League (PHF) won a National Championship with the NCAA’s Wisconsin Badgers in 2019. In 178 games in her college hockey career, Shirley netted 81 goals and distributed 107 assists for 188 points. Shirley earned silver medals with the Canadian National U18 team at the 2016 and 2017 IIHF U18 Women’s World Championships. She played one season in the CWHL and, with the Calgary Inferno, recorded eight goals and 11 assists in 26 games en route to being named rookie of the year.
#11 – Alina Müller
Alina Müller is a 25-year-old left-handed shooter from Winterthur, Switzerland. At the 2014 Sochi Olympics, she became the youngest player in Olympic history to win a medal at the competition, helping the Swiss National Team capture bronze. She led the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic tournament in scoring, tallying up 10 points in six games.
Müller continued building a name for herself at Northeastern University, where she owns the program’s records for points (254), assists (156), and game-winning goals (28) in 159 games played.
#12 – Taylor Wenczkowski
Taylor Wenczkowski is a 26-year-old right-handed shooter from Rochester, New Hampshire. She tallied 11 goals and 14 assists in 51 regular season games for the Boston Pride across three seasons – one as part of the National Women’s Hockey League (NWHL) and the other two with the PHF. In four seasons at the University of New Hampshire, Wenczkowski potted 42 goals and 40 assists in 148 games, serving as captain her senior year.
#16 – Amanda Pelkey
Amanda Pelkey is a 30-year-old right-handed shooter from Montpelier, Vermont. She won the Isobel Cup in 2016 with the Pride and was alternate captain of the Metropolitan Riveters of the PHF. Pelkey earned a gold medal at the 2018 Olympics with the U.S. Women’s National Team. By the end of her collegiate career, she was the University of Vermont’s all-time leader in goals (49), assists (56), and points (105), captaining the team in her senior year.
#17 – Taylor Girard
Taylor Girard is a 25-year-old left-handed shooter from Macomb, Michigan. She was drafted first overall in the 2021 NWHL Draft and was named the 2021-2022 PHF Newcomer of the Year and a PHF All-Star thanks to her 11 goals and 13 assists in 20 games that season.
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Across five seasons in the NCAA – three with Lindenwood University and two with Quinnipiac University – she racked up 32 goals and 37 assists for 69 points in 105 games. She was a member of the Connecticut Whale of the PHF for two seasons, tallying 52 points in 44 career games.
#19 – Gigi Marvin
Gigi Marvin is a 36-year-old right-handed shooter from Warroad, Minnesota. She won an Olympic gold medal (2018) and two silver medals (2010 and 2014) and competed in seven IIHF World Championships, nabbing gold five times and silver twice. Marvin won the Clarkson Cup with the Boston Blades of the Canadian Women’s Hockey League (CWHL) in 2013 before playing for the Boston Pride from 2015 to 2019. She did not play during the 2022-23 PHF season.
#20 – Hannah Brandt
Hannah Brandt is a 30-year-old right-handed shooter from Vadnais Heights, Minnesota. She won a gold medal in the 2018 Olympics and silver in 2022 with Team USA and appeared in six IIHF World Championships. She won three NCAA National Championships (2013, 2015, and 2016) with the University of Minnesota, serving as captain her senior year. Last season, Brandt notched 11 points in 20 games for Team Sonnet of the Professional Women’s Hockey Players Association (PWHPA).
#21 – Hilary Knight
Hilary Knight is a 34-year-old right-handed shooter from Sun Valley, Idaho, and is the captain of PWHL Boston. She won two NCAA National Championships with the University of Wisconsin (2009 and 2011) and was selected fourth overall by the Boston Blades in the 2012 CWHL Draft.
Knight has appeared in 13 IIHF Women’s World Championships for Team USA and was named the tournament’s most valuable player in 2015 and IIHF Female Player of the Year in 2023. She has represented the US in four Olympics, netting gold in 2018 and silver in 2010, 2014, and 2022.
#26 – Sammy Davis
Sammy Davis is a 26-year-old left-handed shooter from Pembroke, Massachusetts. In four seasons with Boston University, she tallied 73 goals and 76 assists for 142 points in 147 games and was the 2019 Beanpot MVP. Davis played for the Boston Pride the past three seasons, notching 15 goals and 16 assists in 51 games.
#27 – Shiann Darkangelo
Shiann Darkangelo is a 30-year-old left-shot shooter from Brighton, Michigan. She won gold in the 2016 IIHF Women’s World Championship with Team USA and played for Syracuse University and Quinnipiac University. Darkangelo began her professional career with the Connecticut Whale of the NWHL during the 2015-16 season and the Buffalo Beauts the following campaign. A two-season stint in the CWHL was followed by six seasons as captain of the Toronto Six, for whom she totaled 48 points in 50 games.
#36 – Loren Gabel
Loren Gabel is a 26-year-old left-handed shooter from Kitchener, Ontario. She is the all-time leading scorer for Clarkson University, where she also earned the accolade of the fastest goal in Clarkson history (eight seconds) and the fastest hattrick in the NCAA (2:21). Gabel won two NCAA National Championships before beginning her professional career in 2019. As a member of the Boston Pride last season, she registered 40 points in 22 games on her way to being named PHF Newcomer of the Year.
#37 – Theresa Schafzahl
Theresa Schafzahl is a 23-year-old left-handed shooter from Weiz, Austria. In her four seasons in the NCAA, she became the University of Vermont’s all-time leader in goals (71), assists (74) and points (145). In her senior year, she set the program’s single-season record for points with 46 in just 29 games. Schafzahl led the Austrian U18 National Team in scoring in four IIHF World Championships in a row from 2015 to 2019. She’s appeared for the Austrian Senior National Team in five IIHF World Championships, from 2016 to 2019 and again in 2022.
#47 – Jamie Lee Rattray
Jamie Lee Rattray is a 31-year-old left-handed shooter from Kanata, Ontario, and is one of PWHL Boston’s two alternate captains in their inaugural season. She helped Clarkson University win its first NCAA Championship. Rattray made her professional debut with the Brampton Thunder of the CWHL in 2014.
In five seasons in the CWHL, she registered 62 goals and 65 assists for 127 points in 120 games before going on to win a gold medal with Team Canada in the 2022 Beijing Olympics.
#55 – Samantha Isbell
Samantha Isbell is a 25-year-old left-handed shooter from Thunder Bay, Ontario. At Mercyhurst University, she recorded 27 goals and 55 assists for 82 points in 141 games. Isbell played for the Montreal Force of the PHF last season, putting up three goals and nine assists in 22 games.
#77 – Nicole Kosta
Nicole Kosta is a 30-year-old right-handed shooter from Mississauga, Ontario. With Quinnipiac University of the NCAA, she was a four-time ECAC Hockey All-Academic Team selection and was a finalist for the 2012-13 ECAC Hockey Best Defensive Forward Award. Kosta broke a Quinnipiac record with an 11-game point streak in 2012. She began her professional career with the Connecticut Whale of the NWHL in 2016 before playing in the CWHL and PWHPA on her way to PWHL Boston this season.
PWHL Boston Defenders
#2 Emily Brown
Emily Brown is a 25-year-old left-handed shooter from Blaine, Minnesota. She earned gold at the 2016 IIHF U18 Women’s World Championship, and in five seasons at the University of Vermont, she registered 20 goals and 66 assists for 86 points in 167 games. Brown appeared in 20 games for the PWHPA’s Team Sonnet last season before joining PWHL Boston.
#5 – Megan Keller
Megan Keller is a 27-year-old left-handed shooter from Farmington, Michigan. She ended her NCAA career as Boston College’s leading defender in goals (45), assists (113), and points (158) and is in the program’s top 10, across all positions in both points and assists.
During her sophomore season, she broke BC’s single-season record for a defender in points (52), shattering the previous record of Emily Pfalzer by 10 points. She appeared in seven IIHF Women’s World Championships with Team USA and netted a gold medal (2018) and a silver medal (2022) in the Olympics.
#7 – Sidney Morin
Sidney Morin is a 28-year-old right-handed shooter from Minnetonka, Minnesota. She won NCAA Defensive Player of the Year as a senior during the 2016-2017 season with the University of Minnesota-Duluth when she posted eight goals and 16 assists and a plus-minus of plus-34. She earned a gold medal in the 2018 Winter Olympics and was named a PHF All-Star as a member of the Minnesota Whitecaps last season with seven goals and 10 assists in 24 games.
#13 – Kaleigh Fratkin
Kaleigh Fratkin is a 31-year-old right-handed shooter from Burnaby, British Columbia. She was the first girl to play boys’ midget AAA hockey in British Columbia and won a silver medal with Team Canada at the IIHF U18 Women’s World Championship.
Fratkin served as an alternate captain her senior year at Boston University before becoming the second-longest tenured player in the NWHL & PHF, playing from 2015 to 2023. During that time, she won back-to-back Isobel Cups with the Boston Pride in 2021 and 2022 and was a PHF All-Star team captain in 2023. Her NWHL and PHF totals come in at 15 goals and 71 assists in 138 regular season games, with a plus-minus rating of plus-44.
#18 – Sophie Jaques
Sophie Jacques is a 23-year-old right-handed shooter from Toronto, Ontario. As a senior defender, she matched Ohio State’s record of 59 points, scored 11 goals on the powerplay, led the nation with a plus-51 rating, and blocked a team-high 44 shots. Jacques was named a NCAA Woman of the Year Top 30 Honoree and took home the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award for being the top player in NCAA Division I women’s ice hockey.
#22 – Jessica Digirolamo
Jessica Digirolamo is a 24-year-old left-handed shooter from Mississauga, Ontario. With Syracuse University, she posted 33 goals and 62 assists in 163 games, enough to become the program’s leader in career goals and points by a defender. She took home many honors in her college career, including the title of the College Hockey America Conference’s best defender in her senior and graduate seasons.
#25 – Emma Buckles
Emma Buckles is a 24-year-old left-handed shooter from Toronto, Ontario. In four seasons at Harvard, Buckles put up 14 goals and 30 assists in 124 games. Buckles was no stranger to the penalty box in her freshman and sophomore years but cut her penalty minutes in half in her junior and senior campaigns. Buckles also took home a silver medal in the 2017 IIHF U18 Women’s World Championship, producing two assists in five games. She most recently played for Team Sonnet of the PWHPA last season, appearing in 20 contests.
#97 – Jess Healey
Jess Healey is a 27-year-old left-handed shooter from Edmonton, Alberta. In four seasons with the University of Minnesota-Duluth, she registered 11 goals and 19 assists in 141 games. Healey went on to play three seasons in the Svenska Damhockeyligan, or Swedish Women’s Hockey League (SDHL). With the HV71 team, she put up 79 points in 105 regular-season games. Last season, Healey entered the PHF with the Buffalo Beauts, scoring a goal and dishing out six assists in 24 games.
PWHL Boston Goaltenders
#30 – Emma Söderberg
Emma Söderberg is a 25-year-old left-gloved goaltender from Orkskoldsvik, Sweden. She posted a 1.75 goals-against average (GAA) and .933 save percentage (SV%) in the 2015 IIHF Women’s World Junior Championship in four games before entering the SDHL – in her first season, she came up with a 1.81 GAA and .930 SV% followed by a 1.55 GAA and .940 SV% in her second.
In five seasons at Minnesota-Duluth, Söderberg finished her collegiate career with a 1.68 GAA, a .934 SV%, and a record of 54-26-2 in 87 appearances. She has the fifth-most wins in NCAA history.
#31 – Aerin Frankel
Aerin Frankel is a 24-year-old left-gloved goaltender from Chappaqua, New York. She has participated in the IIHF Women’s World Championship the past four years, netting gold in 2023 and silver in 2021 and 2022. With Northeastern University, Frankel’s collegiate totals ring in at 1.31 GAA, .949 SV%, and a 103-22-10 record in 139 games. She also dished out seven assists. Last season, Frankel played for Team Adidas of the PWHPA and finished the campaign with a 1.72 GAA and .937 SV%.
#35 – Cami Kronish
Cami Kronish is a 23-year-old left-gloved goaltender from New York, New York. In 43 games with the University of Wisconsin, she finished with a 1.52 GAA and .933 SV% and a 23-10-2 record. She was named the Most Outstanding Performer in the 2023 Women’s Frozen Four tournament and routinely found herself named the conference’s goaltender of the month and goaltender of the week throughout her senior season.
