The U18 Select Camp serves as an audition for Team USA’s group that will compete at this winter’s U18 Women’s World Championships, an event in which Team USA placed third last season. This season, the camp moved from the St. Cloud State campus to the University of Miami (Ohio) campus in Oxford.

At the end of the camp, 34 players are selected to move on to the USA Hockey Women’s National Festival, which is the final tryout to find the remaining pieces for the team that will travel overseas. 

Nicole Gorbatenko and Elle Sproule led the U18 Select Camp in scoring with three goals and five points each, while Lauren Mack was the highest-scoring Minnesotan with four assists. 

Minnesotan goaltenders represented half of all goalies in camp, with four netminders making their way to Oxford. Those goaltenders were Edina’s Nora Hannan, Minnetonka’s Ashlyn Hazlett and Layla Hemp, and Holy Angels’ Zoe Rimstad. 

Hemp finished with arguably the best numbers in camp, stopping 47 of 50 shots for a goals-against-average of 1.53 and a .940 save percentage. Hazlett wasn’t far behind, making 49 saves on 53 shots. Hannan stopped 28 of 30, and Rimstad recorded 35 saves on 40 shots. 

Hannan, Hemp, and Hazlett were three of nine Minnesotans selected to move on to the Festival. Kendra Distad, Sawyer Fleming, Lauren Goldsworthy, Mackenzie Jones, Ayla Puppe, and Josie St. Martin round out the nine. Distad, Hemp, and St. Martin made the IIHF U18 team last winter. 

Team Light Blue and Team Gray finished atop the standings for the Select 16/17 Camp, each with a 3-1 record after the four group games. 

Lola Reid led all scorers with six goals and eight points, followed by Team Navy teammate Kailey Favre with two goals and six points. Grand Rapids/Greenway standout Mercury Bischoff led all Minnesotan skaters with two goals and five points. Bischoff’s play helped lead Team Gray to its 3-1 finish. 

As mentioned above, goaltenders Nora Hannan, Zoe Rimstad, and Ashlyn Hazlett played their way into the Select 18 Camp with sparkling performances with the 16/17s. Hannan stopped 44 of 46 shots, while Rimstad stopped 37 of 39 during the Select 16/17 Camp. Hazlett tied for the camp's lead in shots faced with 53, turning away 51. 

Apple Valley's Makayla Moran was also selected to participate in the Under-18 Select Camp after her performance during the Select 16/17 camp. 

USA Hockey’s Select 15 Camp for girls runs for eight days, beginning with the goalie camp from July 7-10 before the skaters arrive and join the netminders from July 10-15. 

12 teams are split into Liberty, American, and National pools. On the final day of the camp, the pools each play a semifinal and a championship in the same hour of ice time. The semifinals and finals each run for 25 minutes, leading to close scores and exciting finishes. 

By the time this chaotic masterpiece of scheduling came to an end, Purple, Orange, and Royal emerged as pool champions. 

Team Purple went 5-0 for the week, while Team Orange went 4-1 and Royal finished 3-2. 

Blake goaltender Janie McGawn undoubtedly wowed coaches and Team USA brass with her play during the Select 15 Camp, stopping 42 of 43 shots while leading Team Purple to its aforementioned undefeated record. McGawn went 11-3 with a goals-against-average of 1.66, a .939 save percentage, and four shutouts after becoming the Bears’ full-time starter in early January last season. 

With three goals and six points, Kylie Amelkovich led the camp in scoring, followed by a host of four-point players. Among those with four points in five games were Minnesotans Sydney Burnevik and Kathryn Zakrajsheck. Burnevik skates for Champlin Park/Coon Rapids during the winter. Zakrajsheck played last season for Breck, but her Team USA Scoutbook capsule lists her as attending Benilde-St. Margaret’s for the 2023-2024 season.