Switzerland's national program has relied on the strong performances of a small group of stars to carry their international women's hockey hopes. Norina Schrupkowski could be the next piece in that puzzle.
At the U-18 women's World Championships, Switzerland was clearly outmatched offensively.
They were outshot by Canada, Czechia, Sweden, and Hungary in their four-game tournament by a total of 172-68. That included a 2-0 shutout win, their only victory of the tournament, against Hungary in preliminary play to avoid a relegation game. And it included a 2-1 loss to Czechia, where Switzerland held onto a 1-1 tie until the final two minutes of play. She stopped all 31 shots she faced against Hungary for the shutout, and 40 against Czechia, including several point blank opportunities.
What became very clear in the tournament for the Swiss, was that without Norina Schrupkowski in net, Switzerland may not have won a game, and they may have faced relegation to the Division 1A level.
Schrupkowski played more than any other goalie in the tournament, and outside of Canada and USA's goaltenders, who weren't challenged, had the best save percentage in the tournament at .937. In fact, no goaltender from any nation outside Canada, USA, and Switzerland even hit .900 in their save percentage at the event.
It has Schrupkowski positioned as Switzerland's goaltender of the future. She'd be the next in line behind the nation's rich history in the crease. Currently, Andrea Brandli is Switzerland's goaltender, and quite often their most valuable player at the senior national level. The netminder is expected to head to the PWHL next season where competition for her services will be fierce. Switzerland's goaltending history also includes legendary netminder Florence Schelling, who will be inducted to the IIHF Hall of Fame in 2026. Schelling is the only goaltender to win an Olympic medal for Switzerland where she was named the tournament's Best Goaltender in 2014, while also earning Best Goaltender at the 2012 World Championships, and being the only woman to play professional men's hockey in Switzerland's National League B.
Schelling is also Schrupkowski's biggest role model.
At the club level, Schrupkowski has split her season between the GC Küsnacht Lions in Switzerland's top U-16 boys' league, and the club's U-18 team that plays in the nation's second-best U-18 boys' league.
Switzerland has many girls still playing in the nation's top boys' leagues in net including Lara Hug, Mia-Sofie Portner and Lia Gubeli, but none to the level of Schrupkowski
Schrupkowski has already stated her goal is to go to North America for professional hockey, following current PWHL star Alina Muller.
With another year of U-18 World Championship eligibility, Schrupkowski will be back, and next year will play an even greater role for the Swiss who will be without captain Norina Muller, and defender Laure Mériguet who will represent Switzerland's senior national team at the Olympics this winter.
If her trajectory continues in the same direction, Switzerland has their heir to their crease in Norina Schrupkowski, who has her sights set on bigger things from the 2030 Olympic, to a career in pro hockey.