Skilled Team USA Roster is Prepared for the Grind on the U18 Women’s World Championship

The 2026 U.S. Under-18 Women’s National Team has its sights set on gold this yr when the IIHF Under-18 Women’s World Championship will get underway on Jan. 10.

The U.S. has 10 gamers in Sydney and Membertou, Nova Scotia, trying to construct upon final yr’s silver medal, together with gifted goaltender Morgan Stickney.

Stickney performed each minute of the 2025 match and earned media All-Star Team honors. She additionally grew to become the primary U18 goalie to ever file three shutouts via the preliminary spherical, and her shutout streak of 183:01 minutes additionally set a match file. In a discipline that includes many netminders making their match debut, Stickney’s expertise stands out as a bonus for Team USA. 

Maggie Averill, who was named staff captain previous to the match, shall be taking part in in her third U18 World Championship. The defender is a stable and imposing blue line presence who makes use of her lengthy attain to her benefit, significantly in angling play away from the center of the ice. She isn’t simply knocked off the puck and possesses a powerful shot.

Averill brings not only a calm and quiet demeanor to the locker room, however an actual dedication to particulars on and off the ice. Courtney Kennedy, head coach of the U.S. Under-18 Women’s National Team, mentioned she generally forgets how younger Averill is and can discover herself speaking to Averill about play breakdowns. She’s mature and regular and extremely selfless in at all times placing the staff first, mentioned Kennedy. 

The largest impression Averill has is off the ice, the place she units a major instance for others, mentioned Kennedy. She’s at all times early, at all times ready and taking notes and makes some extent to make sure everybody on the staff feels heard and included and is becoming in. 

“She’s a really good person to kind of mimic off ice, which can set a lot of players for success,” Kennedy mentioned. “They’re all coming in with a lot of hockey talent. What you need to learn is composure, confidence and good habits.”

Averill mentioned she’s doing her greatest to benefit from the second whereas figuring out that this can be a huge accomplishment. A youthful sister to Caroline, who was on the staff with Maggie the previous two tournaments, this can be a good probability for Maggie to ascertain herself individually. 

Back in August, the U.S. beat Canada twice in a three-game collection, so the Americans enter this match with the information that they’ll win on the highest degree.

Averill mentioned whereas the Americans have that confidence enhance, they don’t seem to be getting forward of themselves. 

“There is no perfect tournament,” she mentioned. “There are going to be ups and downs. We have to try to keep our cool. You’re going to make a mistake, but how you react and move forward is what matters most.”

While the staff options a number of gamers from hockey hotbeds like Minnesota and Massachusetts, there’s additionally gamers from Texas, Wyoming, Kentucky, Pennsylvania and California. They every convey a special model of play and completely different paths to the nationwide staff.

Kennedy mentioned she loves how every participant’s background shapes them and finally impacts teammates. The make-up of this roster exhibits the expansion of women’ hockey within the U.S. and exhibits gamers throughout the nation what is feasible for them.

“This is Team USA. Why not be from everywhere?” Kennedy mentioned. “It also allows little girls everywhere to dream of it and maybe say, ‘That player is from my state or the state next to me. I can play hockey, too.’”

The U.S. roster is filled with gifted gamers. Therefore, Kennedy doesn’t wish to label her strains when it comes to first or second or third. Instead, she appears to be like at them as interchangeable when it comes to what the staff wants to perform in a shift or in a sport or in opposition to a sure opponent. The gamers every convey completely different abilities and meaning they are often strategically deployed because the state of affairs calls for. 

“What we’ve seen so far in the chemistry of these lines has been a lot of fun,” Kennedy mentioned. “They work hard for that chemistry to work. We’re seeing them learn to play together and meld as we go day-by-day and we’ll see what they become as the tournament evolves. All the players show up every day and are giving it 100 percent and they really give it all for each other. That gives us the ability to change things up as needed,”

Kennedy is aware of profitable gold received’t be simple. The match spans simply 9 calendar days. If they make it to the gold-medal sport, the Americans will play hockey on six of these days.

Despite the quick timeline, there’s unimaginable room for development game-to-game and even shift-to-shift. Kennedy and her employees shall be relying on their staff to place within the work, present enchancment and be selfless. 

“Every team we’re playing in this tournament is strong. Sometimes people don’t realize how hard it is to win a tournament like this,” she mentioned. “But we can’t be afraid of it being hard. We want to win. But they have to play every piece of it. They have to be relentless and hard-working, and it has to be bigger than themselves.”

Story from Red Line Editorial, Inc.