Gwyneth Philips

When Gwyneth Philips hiked to the top of a mountain during the 2025 PWHL expansion draft, she had no cell service. She came down to find her phone flooded with texts telling her the roster around her had shifted — Emerance Maschmeyer was gone to Vancouver, and Philips, the Athens, Ohio native who had entered the league as a backup, was now in a different position heading into her second professional season. As she told InGoal, her response was to put the phone in airplane mode and head back down the trail ^[1].

That moment captures something about how Philips has moved through what has been, by any measure, a compressed and eventful start to a professional career.

Philips grew up in Athens, Ohio, and played collegiate hockey at Northeastern University from 2019 to 2024. Over five seasons with the Huskies, she built one of the most statistically significant records in NCAA goaltending history, finishing with a .958 career save percentage — the highest in NCAA history. Her final season at Northeastern saw her set program records for wins, games played, and minutes played. She was named to the All-American First Team in both 2022–23 and 2023–24, was a Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award Top-10 Finalist in both of those years, and served as an alternate captain in her final season. In 2023, she was recognized as the National Goaltender of the Year.

She entered the PWHL with the Ottawa Charge for the league's inaugural 2024–25 season, beginning as a backup to Maschmeyer. Her first career start came in Minnesota on December 19, where she allowed four goals on 43 shots in a 5–2 loss. Her third career start, on January 21, ended in a 1–0 shutout of the Minnesota Frost — her first professional win. She added a second shutout against Aerin Frankel and the Boston Fleet on April 2, a 4–0 Ottawa win.

When Maschmeyer suffered a season-ending injury on March 11, Philips took over the crease and started 16 consecutive games — eight in the regular season and eight in the playoffs. Across that stretch she posted a cumulative 9–3–4 record. Her regular season finished at 8–5–1 with a 2.11 goals-against average, a .919 save percentage, and two shutouts. She was named a finalist for PWHL Rookie of the Year and Goaltender of the Year, and earned a spot on the PWHL's All-Rookie Team.

In the 2025 playoffs, Philips led the PWHL with 257 saves — more than 100 ahead of second-place Maddie Rooney of the Minnesota Frost, who had 150. She went 4–0–4 in playoff games, never losing in regulation, and posted a 1.23 goals-against average with a .952 save percentage. Her playoff run included a 26-save shutout of the Montréal Victoire in Game 3 of the opening round. At the conclusion of the playoffs, she became the first goaltender to receive the Ilana Kloss Playoff MVP award.

On the international stage, Philips represented the United States at the 2024 and 2025 IIHF Women's World Championships, winning a silver medal in 2024 and a gold medal in 2025. At the 2025 championship, she entered the gold medal game in the third period after Frankel suffered an injury, and was the goaltender on the ice when the United States won in overtime. She then started two games at the Milano-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics without allowing a goal, and was part of the Team USA gold medal-winning squad.

Ahead of her second PWHL season, Philips was one of three protected Charge players ahead of the expansion draft — the draft she famously missed because she was on top of a mountain.

Off the ice, Philips has spoken openly about how she approaches the offseason. In Episode 316 of the InGoal Radio podcast, she described what she did immediately after the PWHL Walter Cup Final: she bought a camper and drove out to California, spending roughly 20 days camping ^[2]. "I love hockey more than anything, but I also love to do things outside," she told InGoal ^[1]. "It keeps me fresh. I think it really helps a lot with my game too."

That approach — separating from hockey during the offseason through camping, hiking, rock climbing, cycling, and other outdoor activity — has been a consistent thread in her career. She played lacrosse, volleyball, flag football, and basketball in high school. She takes her French Bulldog, Paris, on most of her outdoor trips and documents some of her adventures on TikTok. Her father, Guy Philips, raced in the Porsche series back in Ohio, and she did go-kart racing as a younger athlete.

In a piece for InGoal Magazine, writer Colin Hodd examined how Philips's offseason philosophy connects to the density of events she experienced in a single season — and what goalies at any level can take from it ^[1]. The InGoal Radio podcast episode with Philips, hosted by Kevin Woodley and recorded in August 2025, covers her mindset, her approach to the game, and the full story of that postseason ^[2].

InGoal Magazine has covered Gwyneth Philips in one podcast appearance and one InGoal article.