Ava Thomas Loves Being The Underdog, But Continues To Score Like A Frontrunner

Ava Thomas is the sniper who took Boston by storm last season. She’s also playing a vital role in growing the game in the Philadelphia area. 

Thomas’ Philadelphia-based childhood team might have been able to practice 15 minutes from her home, but games were thousands of miles away. For other kids, the weekend was time off. For Thomas, Thursday through Sunday, she would be flying to Canada, Minnesota, Michigan and Massachusetts to make it to 75 games a season. 

“When I grew up, there was probably 20 girls [who played], and that was our team,” Thomas recalled. “[The travel] was definitely a drag, but I wouldn't necessarily want it a different way.”

She started the sport by roller skating in her basement before joining her older brother on the ice when she was 7 years old. In the 150 games she played with the Junior Flyers, she notched 142 goals and 117 assists, making her one of the most sought-after picks of her class.

Thomas felt like she was “going in blind” to recruiting, but she liked the idea of being a “big fish in a small pond.” When June 15 rolled around and the phone started ringing, her top priority was an underdog school. After seeing the Boston College campus, she decided to cancel other visits. 

“I looked at my parents and I was like, ‘Yeah, I think this is the place,’” she remembers. 

“I don't have all the time in the world to make an impact. You get four years, and for me, I want to be relied on from day one.”

She was. Thomas notched 19 goals and 27 assists in her freshman season, earning the title of Hockey East Rookie of the Year. 

Still, the NCAA was an adjustment. Most skaters had played together or against each other at New England prep schools and already knew how to work in the systems. 

“Back home where I played, it wasn't really as structured as that. It was more like playing free, kind of just doing what I wanted to do.”

Thomas is a sniper, she’s lethal on the breakaway or on odd-man rushes, but after playing the first month as a sophomore, Thomas already feels her space on the ice disappearing. This season, she’s finding new ways to the net. 

“For 14 years, it's been kind of a lot of the same thing,” she said. “Now it's finding soft areas of the ice to try and get me the puck, then score from a different angle.”

The long term goal for Thomas is international play. She’s a two-time player on the U.S. Under-18 Women’s National Team and was part of the gold-medal-winning team in 2024. 

“I just think that if I can make an impact here, it turns a couple heads and makes more of a difference for me if I am able to help take BC to a Frozen Four or to a National Championship,” she said. 

The Boston College forward never wanted to leave home for prep school while growing up, and she’s kept that mentality as a college player. In the summers, she helps run a girls hockey camp in hopes of growing the sport in her area– participants have already doubled in the two years her camp has been running. Thomas loves giving advice to the girls, usually between 7 and 15 years old, who are building a hockey community that didn’t exist in the same way when she was there. 

“To know that all these girls want to play and they all pretty much want to play at a high level is awesome, just because I know how it was for me,” Thomas said. “These girls come to me with questions and wanting advice, and I'm just so happy to give it just because I think it's awesome.”

It’s the Philadelphia in her that makes her a hard person to doubt– she thrives on being the underdog. She’s stepping into this season with a new physicality to her game, growing IQ and five goals already under her belt. 

“I just keep working. I put my head down and try to stay consistent and ultimately try to prove people wrong,” Thomas said.