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UTICA, N.Y. — Lyla Edwards becomes the first black woman to play for the U.S. women’s national team at a world championship.
Edwards, 20, played in the 2023-24 Rivals Series against Canada in November, becoming the first Black woman to play for Team USA. Now she is part of the 23-man roster on the ice for the World Championship and Wednesday’s opening game against Switzerland, Edwards has officially appeared on the international stage and solidified her place on her national team. .
“I’m so humbled and grateful to be in this position where the next young girl can look at me and say, ‘If she can do it, so can I,'” Edwards said. The Athletic in November.
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At 6-foot-1, Edwards’ combination of size and skill makes her one of the most unique and exciting prospects in women’s hockey. She is a very skilled playmaker and has the ability to slow down the game around her. She can spot laser-thin seams in the ice or observe plays that keep her two steps ahead of her competition.
“I don’t think there’s another woman like her in the game today,” Team USA coach John Wroblewski said.
Edwards just completed his sophomore season at the University of Wisconsin, doubling his point total from his freshman year, finishing in the top 10 in the NCAA in scoring with 56 points in 41 games. In the WCHA finals against top-ranked Ohio State, Edwards scored two goals and four points to lead the Badgers to a 6-3 victory. In the NCAA Tournament, she scored three goals and five points in her first two rounds, sending the University of Wisconsin to its second consecutive national championship game, but the Badgers lost 1-0 to Ohio State.
On Team USA, Edwards is slotted as a bottom-six forward along with veterans Kelly Panek and Haley Skamura. Edwards is the tallest player on the U.S. national team and is taller than her rival Canadian national team player, but she is not a typical power forward and relies on her pure physical ability to Not that there is.
“What’s interesting about her is her size and the points she scores, but the most impressive thing about her is her brain,” Wroblewski said. “Her computer is very powerful. She has very deft hands and can navigate the neutral zone very well. She’s a dream to play with. Yo.”
Edwards grew up in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, the second youngest of four children, and began figure skating as a child alongside her older sister, Chayla. She attended the elite women’s hockey program at Bishop Kearney, a private school in Rochester, New York, and committed to Wisconsin after her freshman year of high school. In her first tournament with USA Hockey, the 2022 U18 Women’s World Championship, Edwards was a star. No one on her team USA scored more points. No one in the world has a better goal. And she was named top forward and MVP.
Other pioneers in women’s hockey include Canadian Angela James, the first black woman to be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame, and Sarah Nurse, the first black woman to win an Olympic gold medal in ice hockey. 2022. Julie Chu was the first Asian American to play as part of Team USA at the 2002 Olympics. Abby Roque also became the first Indigenous woman to represent Team USA at the 2022 Olympics.
This is a long-awaited first time for a Black woman to represent Team USA in an international competition.
“I never thought I could be a role model. I was always looking for people who looked like me and had similar aspirations,” Edwards wrote in an op-ed in Wisconsin. “But when I look back at the conversations I have with parents about how I inspired their kids to play hockey, I am reminded of the path I build for others.”
(Photo of Lyla Edwards at the Rivals Series in November 2023: AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
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