Molly Boyle ’25, Maggie Averill ’27 & Caroline Averill ’26 (L-R) pose with their gold medals and the World Championship trophy.
The U.S. Under-18 Women’s National Team, including current Phillips Academy students Molly Boyle ’25 (Scituate, MA), Caroline Averill ’26 (Wayland, MA), and Maggie Averill ’27 (Wayland, MA) defeated Czechia, 5-1 to win the gold medal at the 2024 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 Women’s World Championship in Zug, Switzerland. Team USA finished the tournament with a perfect 6-0-0 record earning its first gold medal at the tournament since 2020. In addition to the championship win over Czechia, the team defeated Slovakia (7-1), Switzerland (8-1), Sweden (4-0), Germany (4-2), Finland (4-2).
All three of Andover's skaters registered goals and assists in the competition, with Caroline also earning Player of the Game honors in the victory over Slovakia.
The annual tournament, which ran from January 6-14, served as an exciting extension to Andover's winter break for Molly, Catherine, and Maggie. The competition featured eight nations split into two groups. Group A consisted of Canada, Finland, Czechia, and Germany, with Sweden, the USA, Slovakia, and Switzerland making up Group B. The preliminary round wrapped up on January 10. The four quarter-finals were played on January 11, followed by the semi-finals and relegation games on January 13, and the bronze and gold medal games on January 14.
The Phillips Academy trio earned a spot on the Team USA roster after a comprehensive evaluation process, the last stages of which included being named to the U.S. Under-18 Women’s Select Team that competed in a three-game series vs. Canada in Lake Placid, NY in August, and then being among just thirty players receiving an invitation to the 2024 U.S. Under-18 Women’s National Team Selection Camp from Oct. 29-31 in Minnesota. That camp served as the final evaluation camp for the 2024 U.S. Under-18 Women’s National Team that competed at the IIHF Under-18 Women’s World Championship. The final roster was comprised of twenty-five players, including 14 forwards, eight defenders, and three goaltenders.
For Boyle, Andover hockey's co-captain and a Yale University Ice Hockey commit, the fall portion of the USA Hockey selection camp meant that she had to put down her field hockey stick for a bit. On the way to helping Phillips Academy field hockey to the New England championship in November, where they finished as runners-up, she broke the school's field hockey scoring record and earned NEPSAC First Team, NFHCA All-Massachusetts Region First Team, and Max Field Hockey's All-New England Region 1st Team.
While en route home from the World Championship, Boyle (pictured below) shared how special the experience and the support she felt from the Andover community was to her,
“I am so extremely grateful for the unwavering love and support from the Andover community. I would not be where I am without the coaches, mentors, and teammates at Phillips Academy and I cannot thank them enough for all they do for me. I am so thankful to be able to have this opportunity to represent our country on an international stage. I was able to create new friendships that will last forever as we strived to accomplish our goal as a team, and when that moment came, it was a feeling we will never forget. It was an incredible experience that I will forever be grateful for and am super excited to be back with my friends and teammates, ready to continue the girls' varsity hockey season with enthusiasm and determination.”
For Caroline and Maggie Averill, there’s a family connection to both Andover and Team USA. Older sister Anne, now playing ice hockey at Dartmouth, is Phillips Academy Class of 2023 and lettered in crew and field hockey in addition to serving as an ice hockey captain for the Big Blue. Caroline and Maggie’s mother, Alison, Class of 1995, also lettered in three sports at Andover, breaking scoring records in soccer, ice hockey, and lacrosse. She was selected to skate for Team USA in 1995, playing in a series of games against Canada, went on to star in ice hockey at Princeton, and was a two-time finalist for the Patty Kazmaier Award, given to the top female college ice hockey player in the United States. Alison was inducted into Andover’s Athletics Hall of Honor in 2020.
Caroline and Maggie also took some time out during their trip back home to share some thoughts on the gold medal experience.
Caroline (pictured above), “We are so thankful for all the support from our Andover teammates and coaches. The tournament was an incredible experience and to be there with my sister, Maggie, and Molly was so special. I look up to both Maggie and Molly, so it was great to have them there to lean on.”
Maggie (pictured above), “It was such a memorable moment to win with such an amazing group of players and alongside my sister.”
You can follow Molly, Caroline, and Maggie, along with their Phillips Academy girls' varsity hockey teammates on the ice this season, as they fight to return to the New England Class A Prep championship.