USA Hockey Magazine

foundational to how she learned to play goalie. Her youth coaches in the Pittsburgh area really focused on skating and tech- nique. She takes pride in that still being the basis of how she plays the position now. Her calm approach comes from being able to be in the right spot at the right time. Combined with her size, that means she was going to take up a lot of the net. It took her a little bit of time to be con- fident and self-assured in her size. She's an intimidating presence and when she embraced that, she became more comfort- able and confident in how she played. Her quiet confidence and consistent play earned McNaughton a spot on the U.S. Women's National Team for the 2025 IIHF Women's World Championship at just 20 years old and she was part of the 2026 Olympic gold medal-winning team just seven months later. While the experience of starting a game in each of those tournaments is going to have a lasting impact on her career moving forward, McNaughton also learned some important lessons about teamwork, her position and gained maturity, she said. Finding Her Own Style McNaughton's Team USA goalie team- mates, Aerin Frankel and Gwyneth Philips, are both 5'5" and the three all play dis- tinctly different styles. Having grown up believing there was an ideal way to play, McNaughton said training with two goalies who are so starkly physically different from herself has really helped her see goaltend- ing as an individualized craft where every- one is just trying to find an approach that works best for them. "It truly is like an art. No one style is going to work for everybody. If you tried to make Aerin and I play the same way, neither one of us would be successful. If she tried to play my game, it wouldn't work, and if I tried to play her game, it wouldn't work," she said. Comparing herself to her teammates is useless, futile and serves no purpose, and this past year McNaughton said she has had the maturity to be ok with that. "Comparison is the thief of joy. Truly, you can only compare yourself to you," she said. "My peak game is going to look different than everyone else's peak game, and the way that I prepare to play that game is different from everyone, too." The Next Generation McNaughton's approach might not be for everyone. B u t i t w o u l d b e a m i s t a k e t o c o n - f u s e c a l m n e s s f o r l a c k o f a t h l et i c i s m . McNaughton says her game is at its best when she finds the best balance of those two qualities. Add in sharp reflexes, flexi- bility and vision and it's easy to see how the results have followed. At just 21, she has another year of NCAA eligibility. She'll be pushing to play in her fourth straight NCAA championship game next season and looking for a three-peat with the Badgers. She was named Most Outstanding Player of the 2026 Frozen Four and was Hockey Coaches Association Goalie of the Year in 2025. And she has established herself as part of the future generation of American goaltending. P A CALM GOALIE IS ONE THAT'S GOING TO BE CONSISTENT." PHOTOS BY Getty Images; University of Wisconsin 20 // THE GOALIE ISSUE // JUNE 2026 The span between Ava McNaughton's Olympic gold medal with Team USA and NCAA national championship with Wisconsin in 2026. 31 Ava McNaughton DAYS OLYMPIC GOLD NCAA CHAMPION

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