Raygan Kirk

When Ohio State won the 2024 NCAA Division I women's ice hockey national championship, it was Raygan Kirk standing in net for the final — and walking away with tournament MVP honors. That title game, a tight contest that stayed scoreless deep into regulation, ended with Kirk named to the Frozen Four All-Tournament Team after she shut out Wisconsin in the final. The win was her 22nd of the season, a new Ohio State team record.

Kirk was born in Ste. Anne, Manitoba, a small community southeast of Winnipeg, and came to goaltending through a familiar path: her younger brother played the position first. She wore both a goalie's pads and a defenseman's gear for years — literally traveling to games with two hockey bags in the car — before committing fully to the crease around grade seven or eight. She credits those years playing defense with giving her a feel for how skaters read the ice and where threats develop. She developed through the Eastman Selects program in triple-A hockey, choosing to stay close to home rather than attend a prep school, and focused on making an impression at showcases. Coaches who shaped her development include Terry Patrick and Curtis Ends with Eastman, and Gord Woodley, whom she worked with extensively through her summers and through the Hockey Canada program.

Before she played a single college game, Kirk represented Canada at the 2019 U18 World Championship in Obihiro, Japan, starting all four games on the way to a gold medal and earning tournament MVP honors. She later participated in multiple summers of Hockey Canada's under-22 and development programs, and attended her first senior national camp in the summer of 2024.

On the college side, Kirk began at Robert Morris University, where she made the CHA All-Rookie Team after starting 24 games and winning 15 in her freshman year. Her sophomore season brought eight wins in 15 games and a .939 save percentage. When RMU suddenly shuttered its program, Kirk transferred to Ohio State. After more limited roles in her junior and senior years with the Buckeyes — four games as a junior, eleven as a senior with eight wins — she became the full-time starter in her fifth year of eligibility and posted a .945 save percentage across 24 games, capping her collegiate career with the national title.

Kirk joined the Toronto Sceptres for the 2024–25 PWHL season, wearing number 1. She works with goaltending coaches Brad Kirkwood and Brad Fogel in Toronto, and the Sceptres have a mental skills coach on staff whom Kirk has described as a valuable resource as she navigates her rookie professional season.

On episode 285 of the InGoal Radio podcast, Kirk spoke with host Kevin Woodley about her path from Ste. Anne to the PWHL, the mental framework she used through Ohio State's championship run, and what she has carried into her first professional season — including how she uses three personal focus pillars and the value of video feedback in her development ^[1]. In her own words from that conversation: "If you feel that pressure, like, that's a privilege. To be in a situation, whether it's national championship game or your first, you know, professional game, like, that's such a privilege to be able to have that pressure and those nerves." ^[1]

InGoal Magazine has covered Raygan Kirk in one podcast appearance.