Gwyneth Philips

Gwyneth Philips left Northeastern University holding a record that had never been touched in NCAA history — a .958 career save percentage, the highest the college game had ever seen. That achievement, built over five seasons in Boston from 2019 to 2024, set the table for what came next: one of the more compressed and consequential debut seasons in professional women's hockey.

Born in Athens, Ohio, on September 17, 2000, Philips grew up in a family with motorsport in its DNA — her father, Guy Philips, raced in the Porsche series back in Ohio. She came up through the sport playing lacrosse, volleyball, flag football, and basketball alongside hockey, and that multi-sport background stayed with her well into her professional career. During her time at Northeastern, she was named to the All-American First Team at the conclusion of both the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons, was a Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award Top-10 Finalist in each of those years, and was recognized as the National Goaltender of the Year in 2023. In her final collegiate season, she served as an alternate captain and set program records for wins (34), games played (38), and minutes played (2,272).

The Ottawa Charge selected Philips and she entered the PWHL's inaugural season as the backup to Emerance Maschmeyer. Her first career start came in Minnesota on December 19, the fifth game of the regular season, where she allowed four goals on 43 shots in a 5-2 loss. Her third career start brought her first career win — a 1-0 shutout of the Minnesota Frost on January 21. A second shutout followed on April 2, a 4-0 win over Lowell against fellow American goaltender Aerin Frankel at the Tsongas Center.

When Maschmeyer suffered a season-ending injury on March 11, Philips took over and started 16 consecutive games — eight in the regular season and eight in the playoffs. Over that stretch, she went 9-3-4. Her rookie regular-season totals came in at 8-5-1 with two shutouts, a 2.11 goals-against average, and a .919 save percentage, earning her a spot as a finalist for both PWHL Rookie of the Year and Goaltender of the Year, along with a place on the PWHL All-Rookie Team.

The playoffs that followed produced numbers that defined her first professional year. Philips went 4-0-4, posted a 1.23 GAA and a .952 save percentage, and never lost a game in regulation time. She led the PWHL with 257 saves in those playoffs — more than 100 saves above second-place Maddie Rooney of the Minnesota Frost, who had 150. In Game 3 of the first round against Montréal, she made 26 saves in a 1-0 win to give Ottawa a 2-1 series lead. At the end of that run, she became the first goaltender to receive the Ilana Kloss Playoff MVP award.

The same season also included appearances at the 2024 and 2025 IIHF Women's World Championships, where she won a silver medal and then a gold. In the 2025 gold medal game, she came off the bench in the third period — replacing an injured Aerin Frankel with the score tied — and was the winning goaltender as the United States won in overtime. She then started two games at the 2026 Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics without allowing a goal, adding an Olympic gold medal to her collection.

Ahead of her second PWHL season, Philips was one of three protected Charge players entering the expansion draft. That draft proved consequential: Maschmeyer was left unprotected and ultimately claimed by the Vancouver franchise, opening the door for Philips to begin her second season as the starter. Philips learned all of this on a mountainside.

Colin Hodd explored that offseason — and what it says about how Philips approaches the game — in a piece for InGoal Magazine ^[1], which draws on her conversation in Episode 316 of the InGoal Radio Podcast. That episode is where Philips described finding out about the expansion draft results after hiking up a mountain with no cell service, returning to a flood of texts, and promptly putting her phone on airplane mode. "I just was like, airplane mode. I can't deal with this right now. I'm on top of a mountain," she said ^[1].

That instinct to step away is something Philips has spoken about directly. "One of the things that's made me pretty successful is I've always been able to really separate myself from the game and really take my time in the off season," she said on the podcast. "Hockey is a lot of fun but can be a lot, like a lot of stress and everything for me was ramped up right at the end. I think I just kind of needed to hit the hard reset and for me I guess that means disconnecting from all things hockey." ^[1]

After the 2025 PWHL Walter Cup Final, she purchased a camper and spent roughly 20 days camping in California. She documented that trip on her TikTok account and, as is usually the case, brought her French Bulldog, Paris. Rock climbing and cycling have also become part of her routine away from the rink. The Hodd piece at InGoal ^[1] uses Philips's offseason approach as a lens for a broader conversation about how goalies manage rest and mental freshness — and what her first professional year demanded of her in a very short span of time.

InGoal Magazine has covered Gwyneth Philips in one InGoal article.