Nine girls hockey players from Minnesota resumed their quests for a state championship this week, but they do so with some shiny hardware already in hand: gold medals from the Under-18 IIHF Women’s World Championship.

The United States beat Canada 2-0 on Saturday, Jan. 18, to win the annual eight-team tournament that began in Sydney, Nova Scotia, on Jan. 10.

In the gold medal game, Hill-Murray junior forward Emily Pohl, a Wisconsin commit, opened the scoring in the first period. She finished a net-front chance after a faceoff win and feed from Benilde-St. Margaret’s junior forward Talla Hansen, a future Gopher.

Reigning Class 2A state champ Hill-Murray and another top Class 2A contender, Holy Family, both sent a pair of players to the 25-player U.S. roster. Junior defender Addy McLay (Ohio State) joined Pohl from the Pioneers, while senior forward Maddy Kimbrel (Wisconsin) and senior defender Katya Sander (Minnesota) represented the Fire.

Other Minnesota skaters on the roster were Centennial/Spring Lake Park senior forward Alaina Gnetz (Minnesota-Duluth), Proctor/Hermantown sophomore defender Taylee Manion, Northfield senior defender Mia Miller (Minnesota State Mankato) and Bemidji junior forward Bailey Rupp (Minnesota-Duluth).

All seven MSHSL-member teams represented have been included in Strib Varsity’s Minnesota Top 25 girls hockey power rankings this winter, including five of the current top 10 teams.

The United States’ 10th gold medal is the tournament’s first “perfect gold,” meaning the team never trailed in six wins. The U.S. outscored opponents 56-2, beating Slovakia, Czechia, Finland, Hungary and Sweden on its way to the final against Canada.

Pohl led all Minnesotans with 15 points (six goals, nine assists), followed closely by Hansen with 14 (six goals, eight assists). Gnetz tallied five goals and two assists, while Kimbrel scored twice and assisted once. Rupp recorded one goal and an assist.

All four Minnesotan defenders found their way onto the scoresheet with helpers — three assists each for Miller, Sander and Manion and two for McLay.

Massachusetts’ Jane Daley, who competes for Faribault-based Shattuck-St. Mary’s, was named tournament MVP for her record-breaking 12 goals.

Kimbrel skated for the U.S. at the championship last year, when the U.S. fell to Canada 3-0 in the gold medal game.

In December, Kimbrel said that “it’s just as exciting” making the roster the second time around.

In 2025, Kimbrel earned silver alongside former Orono teammate Macy Rasmussen, now a freshman at Ohio State.

“Every time my coaches asked me, ‘What are some of your goals?’ I was like, ‘I want to do what Macy’s doing,’ ”, Kimbrel said. “Being able to make it with her was so exciting. And I feel like the same thing this year, because now I get to do it with a lot of my best friends I play with in the fall.”

“Being selected to go is like a dream come true,” Sander said, reflecting on the satisfaction of making the roster after being cut the prior year. “It is a little sad missing the high school season and a few games, but I feel like I would do anything in the world to go, to be there.”