Ten U18 women’s hockey players to watch — News from around the hockey world
The IX: Hockey Friday with The Ice Garden, Jan. 17, 2025
Happy Friday! Melissa Burgess from The Ice Garden (TIG) here, bringing you the latest from the world of women’s hockey. This past weekend, Canada won its eighth gold medal, defeating the United States at the 2025 IIHF Women’s World U18 Championships in Vantaa, Finland.
Continue reading with a subscription to The IX
Get unlimited access to our exclusive coverage of a varitety of women’s sports, including our premium newsletter by subscribing today!
Already a member?
Login
Every day, women’s and girls hockey seems to be reaching new heights, not just in North America but across the world. The sport is gaining traction and players are becoming more and more recognizable. It’s a great time for the sport and signals a bright future ahead, further evidenced by the play of several notables at the U18 Worlds.
Below are players who are ones to watch not only right now, but also into the future, as they presumably grow up through their respective national programs and emerge into potential collegiate, junior and pro futures. Many of these players skated in the recent U18 Worlds, while a few played in the Division I, Group A and B tournaments.
The Next, a 24/7/365 women’s basketball newsroom
The Next: A basketball newsroom brought to you by The IX. 24/7/365 women’s basketball coverage, written, edited and photographed by our young, diverse staff and dedicated to breaking news, analysis, historical deep dives and projections about the game we love.
Readers of The IX now save 50% on their subscription to The Next.
Nela Lopušanová
Forward | Born Feb. 26, 2008 (16 years old) | Zilina, Slovakia
Current team: Bishop Kearney Selects 19U AAA
NCAA commitment: University of Wisconsin (2026-27)
If you don’t know Nela Lopušanová’s name, it’s time to wake up. One of the highest-touted women’s hockey prospects, she registered 11 points (5-6) in five games at the U18 tournament while serving as an alternate captain. She also scored a whopping 18 points, including 11 goals, in three Olympic qualifying games.
Lopušanová is currently in her second season with Bishop Kearney’s 19U AAA team in Rochester, New York, and still has another season there before joining Wisconsin in 2026. You can learn more about her with this piece from TIG at The IX last month.
Oh, and turns out she’s pretty darn good at flag football, too.
Maxine Cimoroni
Forward | Born Feb. 27, 2007 (17 years old) | Toronto, Ontario
Current team: Mississauga Hurricanes U22
NCAA commitment: Ohio State (2025-26)
Cimoroni was one of four Canadian players to register 10+ points at this year’s U18s, capturing a gold medal with four goals and six assists. She more than tripled her performance from the 2024 tournament, when she had three points and won bronze.
She’s spent the last few years with the OWHL’s Mississauga Hurricanes U22 team — which she joined at the age of just 15 years old. So far, in 20 games, she’s tied for the team scoring lead, with 32 points. Her 17 goals are second behind only Charlotte Pieckenhagen’s 23 goals in as many games.
Bella Fanale
Forward | Born May 19, 2007 (17 years old) | Webster, NY
Current team: Bishop Kearney Selects 19U AAA
NCAA commitment: University of Minnesota (2025-26)
Fanale led Team USA with nine points in the U18 tournament, including five goals and four assists. This was her third appearance at U18s, and she captained the team to a silver medal while drastically increasing her offensive output. (In 2024, she recorded just two points in four games.) This year, she was second among all players in goals scored in the tournament and scored twice in her team’s 2-1 semifinal win.
Like Lopušanová, Fanale is in her second season with Bishop Kearney’s 19U AAA team. She’s set to join Minnesota in the fall.
Alexandra Boico
Forward | Born June 12, 2009 (15 years old) | Germany
Current team: EC Bad Tölz
At just 15 years old, Boico led the Division I, Group A tournament with five goals in as many games. With six total points, she was tied for second in scoring in the tournament. Her impressive performance included a natural hat trick in Germany’s 4-1 win over Austria. The IIHF called her “a standout player,” particularly noting that this was her international debut.
Boico has bounced around a bit this season, playing with both the U15 and tier-2 levels of EC Bad Tölz, as well as with ECDC Memmingen on loan. She has five points in three games with EC Bad Tölz’s Germany2 team.
Ema Tóthová
Forward | Born Aug. 7, 2007 (17 years old) | Nove Zamky, Slovakia
Current team: HK PSRZ Bratislava
Tóthová was one of Slovakia’s top players at U18s, putting up five assists and seven points total in just five games. Second on the team in scoring behind Lopušanová, she played an average of 22:50/game — big minutes, especially for a forward.
This season, she scored four goals in five games with HK Nove Zamky’s U18 team. Elsewhere, she has 21 points — including 12 goals — in just 14 games with HK PSRZ Bratislava, good for second on the team in scoring. It’s especially impressive when you consider that she’s playing alongside adults, including Janka Hlinka (29 years old) and Romana Košecká (25 years old).
She also scored seven points in three Olympic qualifying games with Slovakia.
Order ‘Becoming Caitlin Clark’ and save 30%
Howard Megdal, founder and editor of The Next and The IX, just announced his latest book. It captures both the historic nature of Caitlin Clark’s rise along with the critical context, over the previous century, that helped make it possible — interviews with Clark, Lisa Bluder, C. Vivian Stringer, Jan Jensen, Molly Kazmer and so many others were vital to the process.
If you enjoy his coverage of women’s basketball every Wednesday at The IX, you will love “Becoming Caitlin Clark: The Unknown Origin Story of a Modern Basketball Superstar.” Click the link below to order and enter MEGDAL30 at checkout.
Linda Vocetková
Forward | Born March 22, 2007 (17 years old) | Czechia
Current team: Djurgårdens IF
Vocetková captained Czechia to the bronze medal, for their second consecutive year medaling at U18s. More importantly, though, she scored the game-winning goal to push Czechia to bronze in a 2-1 win over Sweden. Unsurprisingly, she was Czechia’s top scorer, finished the tournament with seven points (5-2) in six games and was named one of Czechia’s best players.
Vocetková has struggled a bit this season in the SDHL, as she’s still looking for her first point after playing 16 games. She had two goals in 33 games last season with Djurgårdens IF. The offense is definitely there, showcased well when she’s playing among her peers. This was her third appearance at U18s, where she totaled 13 points in 17 games over the years.
In 2024, Neutral Zone graded her performance at U18s as a “B”, noting her active stick, strong back pressure and strong skating ability.
Edit Danielsson
Forward | Born Sept. 13, 2007 (17 years old) | Växjö, Sweden
Current team: Frölunda HC
Danielsson was one of Sweden’s top scorers at U18s, leading the team in goals (4) and matched only by Ebba Westerlind in points (6). This was her second U18 tournament, and her offense made a big jump from 2024 when she failed to record a point in five games. She was named one of the top three players for Sweden at this year’s tournament.
She’s put up a respectable 10 points (5-5) in 24 SDHL games with Frölunda. Like some of her counterparts on this list, she’s playing with adults, including some who are quite literally twice her age. (She also had five points in the single game she played with Frölunda’s J20 team, so yeah… she’s darn good.)
Morgan Stickney
Goaltender | Born Jan. 18, 2008 (16 years old) | Manhattan Beach, California
Current team: Shattuck St. Mary’s Prep
NCAA commitment: Penn State University (2026-27)
Stickney was undoubtedly one of the top goaltenders at U18s, recording three consecutive shutouts to start the tournament. (Granted, that has to be taken with a grain of salt, as she only faced four shots in the opening game against Japan, and seven in the third game against Finland). She set a new U18s record for a single-tournament shutout streak and finished the tournament with a .957 save percentage and 0.67 GAA.
Stickney, who turns 17 later this week, grew up in the Los Angeles Jr. Kings and LA Lions programs before joining Shattuck St. Mary as a 16U player. This season, she’s played in 11 games for the Sabres, racking up an 8-0-2 record with a 1.43 GAA and .940 save percentage.
Mariana Sumegová
Goaltender | Born Feb. 9, 2008 (16 years old) | Slovakia
Current team: Bourget Collège Prep
Sumegová played in five games for Slovakia at U18s, accruing a .889 save percentage and 4.94 GAA in just under 280 minutes of ice time. She really got to take the helm this year for Slovakia, as last season (in her first U18s), she had played only 17:02.
She’s gone 10-4-0 this season with the Bourget Collège Prep independent team in Rigaud, Quebec, where she’s being coached by Brigitte Laganière. Mélodie Daoust also serves as an assistant coach, alongside Hanna Bunton and Ariane Proulx. Sumegová is one of just three non-North American players on the team.
Malgorzata Zakrzewska
Forward | Born Jan. 28, 2010 (14 years old) | Katowice, Poland
Current team: Naprzod Janow
Zakrzewska is only 14 years old, but led the Division I, Group B tournament in goals and was second in points. She recorded 12 points, including seven goals in just five games, including one game-winning goal. She (by far) led Poland with 51 shots on goal — averaging just over 10 per game — and was one of the youngest players on the team.
This season, she had 25 points (12-13) in eight games with Naprzod Janow’s U16 team before joining their main squad. Despite being one of the youngest players on the team — and skating with some players who are 20+ years her elder — she leads the team with 38 points (23-15) in just 11 games.
Want women’s hockey content? Subscribe to The Ice Garden!
Here at The IX, we’re collaborating with The Ice Garden to bring you Hockey Friday. And if you want the women’s hockey goodness 24/7? Well, you should subscribe to The Ice Garden now!
Around the hockey world
A hockey town: Inside the push to bring pro women’s hockey back to Quebec City — CBC The PWHL’s next Takeover Tour will see the league visit Quebec City, where the Victoire & Charge will face off on Sunday. The city hopes there’s more to come.
Who is Abbey Levy? Meet the Jewish star of the New York women’s hockey team — Unpacked New York Sirens goaltender Abbey Levy’s father was adopted into a Jewish family. Her mother converted to Judaism when they got married. Abbey herself says her religion rarely comes up in her professional life.
For Mercury Bischoff, arguably Minnesota’s best girls hockey player, the spotlight is unavoidable — Star Tribune The future Minnesota State Mankato forward currently leads the state (yes, the entire state) in goals, with 41 in just 19 games this season.
Hockey Humanitarian Award reveals nominees for 2025 — The Ice Garden Seven Division I women’s hockey players were among the nominees for the 2025 Hockey Humanitarian Award announced earlier this week.
Julia Shaunessy is leaning on lessons from her father to help BU women’s hockey end its Beanpot drought — Boston.com Boston University will play Northeastern in the women’s Beanpot final on Tuesday at TD Garden, so it’s the perfect time to read this piece on BU defender Julia Shaunessy, who grew up at the Garden itself. It wasn’t an easy path for her to get there.
| Mondays: Soccer |
| By: Annie Peterson, @AnnieMPeterson, AP Women’s Soccer |
| Tuesdays: Tennis |
| By: Joey Dillon, @JoeyDillon, Freelance Tennis Writer |
| Wednesdays: Basketball |
| By: Howard Megdal, @HowardMegdal, The Next |
| Thursdays: Golf |
| By: Marin Dremock, @MDremock, The IX |
| Fridays: Hockey |
| By: @TheIceGarden, The Ice Garden |
| Saturdays: Gymnastics |
| By: Lela Moore, @runlelarun, Freelance Writer |
