The United States came a game away from back-to-back gold medals at the IIHF Under-18 Women's World Championship.
Team USA, which featured 10 New England natives and three others that play for local programs, fell to Canada, 3-0, in the gold medal game in Vantaa, Finland, on Sunday.
Megan Healy (South Burlington, Vt.), a Princeton commit who plays for Bishop Kearney Selects, earned a spot on the Media All-Star Team for the tournament. The 2007-born defender's six assists in six games were tied for the second-most in the tournament and the most on Team USA.
Each New England native recorded at least a point in the tournament, led by Healy and Evelyn Doyle's (Needham, Mass.) six points.
Doyle, an '07 center at Dexter Southfield, scored four goals and added two assists in six games. She was second in goals for the U.S. and tied for the third-most in the tournament. Doyle, a Yale commit, scored two goals and added an assist in Team USA's 9-1 win over Slovakia in the quarterfinals. Healy had a pair of assists in the game as well.
COMEBACK WIN: 6 takeaways from Dexter's dramatic overtime win over Nobles
Jane Daley (Medfield, Mass.), a 2009 forward at Shattuck-St. Mary's, had two of her four assists for the tournament in that win.
Daley and Shattuck teammate Emma Cerruti (Norwell, Mass.) each assisted on Anabella Fanale's game-winner against Sweden in the semifinals. Cerruti is a 2008-born defender and a Wisconsin commit.
Groton's Tina Scalese (West Boylston, Mass.), an '08 center, posted four points (two goals). The Princeton commit had a goal and an assist in a 6-0 win over Japan to open the tournament. BB&N's Emi Biotti (Cambridge, Mass.) had a goal and an assist in the win, too. The Harvard commit finished with three points and a plus-six rating in the tournament.
Also among locals, Phillips Andover's Caroline Averill (Wayland, Mass.) had two assists in the tournament. Her younger sister, Maggie Averill (Wayland, Mass.) scored against Japan. Caroline is an '07 forward committed to Princeton, while Maggie is an '08 defender.
Dexter's Alaina Dunn (Walpole, Mass.), an '07 defender headed to Boston College, finished with two assists. Annabelle Lovell (Hingham, Mass.), an '09 forward at Lovell Academy, had a goal and an assist for the tournament. She also had a plus-six rating.
NEW YEAR’S PREP PUCK DROP: 9 standout forwards | 5 standout defenders
Chyna Taylor, an '09 defender at Lovell Academy, earned U.S. Player of the Game against Canada. She had two assists in the U.S. win over Slovakia and finished with a plus-seven rating in six games. Fellow Lovell teammate Sydney Stoughton, an '09 forward, had two assists in the tournament.
Ella Johnson, an '07 forward who plays for NAHA, had a goal and an assist in five games. She is a Quinnipiac commit.
Head coach Liz Keady Norton (Braintree, Mass.) helped the U.S. to a third-straight medal. The Milton Academy interim coach guided Team USA to gold in 2024, and she was an assistant coach on the bronze-medal-winning team in 2023.
Her staff included assistant coach Courtney Kennedy (Woburn, Mass.), the associate head coach at Boston College, and intern coach Shelley Picard (Taunton, Mass.), currently an assistant at Long Island University. Doug Ferry (Warwick, R.I.) led the team's hockey operations.
