Gwyneth Philips

When Emerance Maschmeyer went down with a season-ending injury on March 11, Gwyneth Philips stepped into the Ottawa Charge's crease and did not look back. The Athens, Ohio native — wearing number 33 — started 16 consecutive games after that moment, eight in the regular season and eight in the playoffs, and posted a cumulative record of 9-3-4 across that stretch. What followed was one of the more compressed and eventful rookie seasons in recent women's professional hockey history.

Philips arrived in the PWHL having left Northeastern University as the NCAA record holder with a .958 career save percentage. In her four seasons with the Huskies (2019–2024), she was twice named to the All-American First Team, was a Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award Top-10 Finalist in both 2023 and 2024, earned the WHCA National Goaltender of the Year award in 2023, and served as alternate captain in her final season. During the 2023–24 campaign she set program records for wins (34), games played (38), and minutes played (2,272).

Her first career PWHL start came in Minnesota on December 19 — the fifth game of the regular season — when she allowed four goals on 43 shots in a 5-2 loss. Her first career win arrived in her third start, a 1-0 shutout of the Minnesota Frost on January 21. She recorded a second shutout on April 2 against Aerin Frankel and the Boston fleet, winning 4-0 at the Tsongas Center. By the end of the regular season she had compiled an 8-5-1 record with a 2.11 goals-against average and a .919 save percentage.

The playoffs were another matter entirely. Philips went 4-0-4 without a single regulation loss, posted a 1.23 GAA and a .952 save percentage, and led the entire PWHL with 257 saves — more than 100 ahead of Minnesota's Maddie Rooney, who was second with 150. She shut out Montréal in Game 3 of the opening round, making 26 saves in a 1-0 win that gave Ottawa a 2-1 series lead. At the end of it all, she became the first goaltender to receive the Ilana Kloss Playoff MVP award. She was also a finalist for PWHL Rookie of the Year and Goaltender of the Year, and earned a spot on the PWHL All-Rookie Team.

The international calendar added further weight to that season. Philips represented the United States at both the 2024 and 2025 IIHF Women's World Championships, winning a silver medal in 2024 and gold in 2025. The gold-medal game in 2025 produced one of the more unusual moments of her young career: she entered in the third period, with the score tied, after Aerin Frankel suffered an injury, and was the goaltender on the ice when the United States won in overtime. The following winter, she started two games at the Milano-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics without allowing a goal and won an Olympic gold medal with Team USA.

Through all of it, Philips has maintained an approach to the offseason that involves deliberate separation from hockey. Colin Hodd examined that approach in a June 2026 piece for InGoal Magazine ^[1], drawing on Philips's appearance on Episode 316 of the InGoal Radio Podcast to explore what she called a "hard reset." The piece details how she navigated the PWHL expansion draft — and the departure of Maschmeyer to the Vancouver franchise — from the top of a mountain without cell service. ^[1]

Away from the rink, Philips spends time camping, hiking, biking, boating, skiing, and more recently rock climbing and cycling. She plays in these spaces with her French Bulldog, Paris, as a frequent companion. After the 2025 PWHL Walter Cup Final, she purchased a camper and spent roughly 20 days camping in California — documenting the trip on her TikTok account (@gwynethphilips). Her father, Guy Philips, raced in the Porsche series back in Ohio; she did go-kart racing as a child. One of three protected Charge players ahead of the PWHL expansion draft, Philips enters her second professional season as Ottawa's number-one goaltender.

InGoal Magazine has covered Gwyneth Philips in one InGoal article.