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Ava McNaughton

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Ava McNaughton
McNaughton in 2024
Born (2004-10-27) October 27, 2004
Wexford, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Height 6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Weight 181 lb (82 kg; 12 st 13 lb)
Position Goaltender
Catches Left
WCHA team Wisconsin Badgers
National team  United States
Playing career 2023–present
Medal record
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place2026 Milano CortinaTeam

Ava McNaughton (born October 27, 2004) is an American college ice hockey goaltender for Wisconsin and member of the United States women's national ice hockey team. She won consecutive NCAA championships with Wisconsin in 2025 and 2026, was named Most Outstanding Player in 2026. She was also named the National Goalie of the Year in 2025.

Early life

At age six, McNaughton became interested in hockey while watching women's ice hockey at the 2010 Winter Olympics.[1] She and her sister Emily were taking figure skating lessons at the time, but McNaughton immediately wanted to switch to hockey. She began playing goaltender in youth hockey, volunteering for the position whenever possible.[1][2]

Playing career

College

McNaughton began her collegiate career for Wisconsin during the 2023–24 season. During her freshman year she appeared in 23 games, and posted a 20–3–0 record with five shutouts, a 1.45 goals against average (GAA) and .936 save percentage. She was named the WCHA Rookie of the Month in October 2023, after she posted a perfect 4–0–0 record, with a .953 save percentage and two shutouts. She was one of only three WCHA netminders to post a GAA below 1.00 during the month. Her .953 save percentage ranked third in the league and was the best among all freshmen.[3][4] She was again named the WCHA Rookie of the Month in February 2024, after she posted a perfect 4–0–0, with a 1.00 GAA and .955 save percentage. She had wins against ranked opponents, including No. 10 St. Cloud State, No. 5 Minnesota and No. 1 Ohio State. She became only the second goalie this season to shutout Minnesota. Her two shutouts were also for the league lead during the month.[5][6] She helped Wisconsin win the 2024 WCHA women's ice hockey tournament and was named to the WCHA Final Faceoff All-Tournament team.[7]

Wisconsin Badgers women's ice hockey team play against Duluth with McNaughton defending in goal
McNaughton in goal for Wisconsin in October 2024

During the 2024–25 season, in her sophomore year, she posted a 36–1–2 record with eight shutouts, a 1.25 GAA and .944 save percentage. She led the nation in GAA and ranked second in save percentage.[8][9] She was named the WCHA Goaltender of the Month in October 2024, after she led the league with eight wins and three shutouts. She ranked second in the WCHA with a 1.05 GAA and .948 save percentage.[10] She was named the WCHA Goaltender of the Month and Hockey Commissioners Association Co-National Goaltender of the Month in November 2024. During the month she recorded six wins and two shutouts, with a 1.20 GAA and .956 save percentage.[11] She was named the WCHA Goaltender of the Month in January 2025, after she posted a 7–0–2 record, with a 1.45 GAA and .938 save percentage.[12] She was named the WCHA Goaltender of the Month in February 2025, after she recorded five wins. Her five wins were tied for the by any goalie in the month and three of her wins came against ranked opponents.[13] She ranked second in the WCHA with a 1.00 GAA and .948 save percentage.[14] She won the WCHA goaltending championship after she posted a 1.28 GAA and .945 save percentage in conference games. Following the season she was named to the Second Team All-WCHA and a finalist for the WCHA Goaltender of the Year.[15][16] She was named the Women's Hockey Commissioners Association National Goalie of the Year.[17] During the 2025 NCAA Division I women's ice hockey tournament, she helped lead Wisconsin to their eighth national championship and was named to the NCAA All-Tournament team.[18] Her 36 wins were the most by a goaltender in program history.[19]

During the 2024–25 season, in her junior year, she posted a 26–2–2 record with eight shutouts, a 1.27 GAA and .941 save percentage. During conference play, she led all WCHA goalies with a 1.29 GAA, and ranked second with a save percentage of .939, trailing only Ève Gascon. Following the season she was named to the Second Team All-WCHA for the second consecutive year.[20] During the 2026 NCAA tournament championship game against Ohio State she recorded 34 saves and helped Wisconsin win their ninth NCAA championship in program history. She was subsequently named tournament Most Outstanding Player.[21]

International play

Medal record
Representing  United States
Ice hockey
World Championships
Gold medal – first place2025 Czechia
World U18 Championships
Silver medal – second place2022 United States

Junior

McNaughton represented the United States at the 2022 IIHF U18 Women's World Championship and won a silver medal.[22] She appeared in one game against Finland, and recorded 11 saves for the shutout win in her first IIHF U18 Women's World Championship game.[23]

Senior

On March 5, 2025, McNaughton was named to the roster for the United States at the 2025 IIHF Women's World Championship in České Budějovice, Czechia.[24][25] The United States won the gold medal, defeating Canada 4–3 in overtime in the championship game.[26]

On January 2, 2026, McNaughton was named to the U.S. roster to compete at the 2026 Winter Olympics.[27]

Personal life

McNaughton was born to Gretchen and Robert McNaughton, and has an older sister, Emily.[22]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Season Team League GPWLTMINGASOGAASV%
2023–24 University of Wisconsin WCHA 2520301,3623351.45.936
2024–25 University of Wisconsin WCHA 3936122,2174681.25.944
NCAA totals 6456423,57979131.30.942

International

Year Team Event Result GPWLTMINGASOGAASV%
2022 United States U18 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 110060010.001.000
2025 United States WC 1st place, gold medalist(s) 110029000.001.000
2026 United States OG 1st place, gold medalist(s) 11002000.001.000
Junior totals 110060010.001.000
Senior totals 220031000.001.000

References

  1. "A Constant in Net". uwbadgers.com. February 26, 2025. Retrieved January 18, 2026.
  2. "Ava McNaughton Bio". uwbadgers.com. Retrieved January 18, 2026.
  3. "Curl and McNaughton earn October WCHA monthly awards". uwbadgers.com. October 31, 2023. Retrieved March 5, 2025.
  4. "Sterling Trophy WCHA Players of Month for October 2023". wcha.com. October 31, 2023. Retrieved March 5, 2025.
  5. "McNaughton named WCHA Rookie of the Month". uwbadgers.com. February 27, 2024. Retrieved March 5, 2025.
  6. "WCHA named Sterling Trophy Players of the Month for Feb. 2024". wcha.com. February 27, 2024. Retrieved March 5, 2025.
  7. "2024 Kwik Trip WCHA Final Faceoff All-Tournament Team". wcha.com. March 9, 2024. Retrieved March 5, 2025.
  8. "Wisconsin's Ava McNaughton is Women's Goalie of the Year". hockeycommissioners.com. Retrieved June 5, 2025.
  9. "A Constant in Net". uwbadgers.com. February 26, 2025. Retrieved March 5, 2025.
  10. "WCHA Announces October Players of the Month". wcha.com. October 29, 2024. Retrieved March 5, 2025.
  11. "Wisconsin's McNaughton Named HCA National Co-Goaltender of the Month". wcha.com. December 5, 2024. Retrieved March 5, 2025.
  12. "McNaughton earns WCHA Goaltender of the Month of January". wcha.com. February 5, 2025. Retrieved March 5, 2025.
  13. "Minnesota Duluth & Wisconsin Earn WCHA February Players of the Month Honors Presented By Sterling Trophy Awards & Engraving". wcha.com. March 4, 2025. Retrieved March 5, 2025.
  14. "Harvey, McNaughton named WCHA Players of the Month". uwbadgers.com. March 4, 2025. Retrieved March 5, 2025.
  15. Kallmann, Dave (March 3, 2025). "Wisconsin dominates all-WCHA selections wtih [sic] four players on the first team and eight overall". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved March 5, 2025.
  16. "Five Badgers named WCHA award finalists". uwbadgers.com. March 3, 2025. Retrieved March 5, 2025.
  17. "Wisconsin's Ava McNaughton is Women's Goalie of the Year". hockeycommissioners.com. March 21, 2025. Retrieved January 18, 2026.
  18. "Frozen Four: Simms Delivers NCAA Title for Wisconsin". collegehockeyinc.com. March 23, 2025. Retrieved March 23, 2025.
  19. "Sensational Simms: Junior leads comeback to lift UW to eighth NCAA title". uwbadgers.com. March 23, 2025. Retrieved March 23, 2025.
  20. "Seven Badgers named to All-WCHA teams". uwbadgers.com. February 26, 2026. Retrieved February 26, 2026.
  21. "On Cloud Nine: Wisconsin claims ninth national championship". March 22, 2026. Retrieved March 22, 2026.
  22. "Ava McNaughton". uwbadgers.com. Retrieved March 5, 2025.
  23. Aykroyd, Lucas (June 8, 2022). "U.S. tops Finns to stay perfect". USA Hockey. Retrieved March 5, 2025.
  24. "Nine Badgers named to Team USA for IIHF Women's World Championship". uwbadgers.com. March 5, 2025. Retrieved March 5, 2025.
  25. Salvian, Hailey (March 5, 2025). "Team USA announces roster for 2025 Women's World Championship: Snubs, surprises and expectations". The Athletic. Retrieved March 5, 2025.
  26. "U.S. wins gold in overtime classic". International Ice Hockey Federation. April 20, 2025. Retrieved January 18, 2026.
  27. "U.S. women's hockey roster reworked; Knight set for 5th Games". ESPN.com. January 2, 2026. Retrieved January 2, 2026.