Many of the players on the IIHF U18 U.S. Women’s team are signed or have verbal commitments with the University of Wisconsin Badgers. | Twitter/USA Hockey
Many of the players on the IIHF U18 U.S. Women’s team are signed or have verbal commitments with the University of Wisconsin Badgers. | Twitter/USA Hockey
The University of Wisconsin women’s hockey team was well-represented in the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) U18 team’s recent 6-1 win over Sweden in the opening game of the IIHF U18 Women’s World Championship at LaBahn Arena in Madison, according to USA Hockey.
Team USA forwards Laila Edwards, Claire Enright and Kirsten Simms are all committed to UW Madison and are slated to move into the dorms for summer session the day after the tournament, which runs from June 6 to 13.
The eight-week summer session kicks off on Tuesday, June 14, and will include other freshman recruits, all of whom are striving to acclimate themselves with the UW Madison way of life for an athlete.
In addition to the trio of Enright, Simms and Edwards, there are five other players on rosters in the tournament who have verbally committed to the Badgers’ program for the 2023 season. Four of them -- a goalie, defenseman, and two forwards -- are playing for the U.S. team, and the other is a defender on Team Canada. Most of these potential recruits are accustomed to playing with teammates and opponents who are older than them, according to Madison.com.
“We’re going to be such a tight-knit family," Enright told Madison.com. “Simms and Laila are my best friends. I’ve only known them for a couple months, but the connection we all have is amazing. And we all bring different skill sets to the table. So it’ll be a nice mix. I’m really excited for this class. I think it’s probably one of the best classes in college hockey.”
Against Sweden, Edwards opened the scoring after taking a feed from Simms across the crease just over three minutes into the contest.
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