PWHL Montreal got their next big name defender selecting Team USA standout Cayla Barnes, who played this year with Ohio State. She went in the first round, 5th overall.
PWHL Montreal got their next big name defender selecting Team USA standout Cayla Barnes, who played this year with Ohio State. She went in the first round, 5th overall.
Cayla Barnes has been a long time member of Team USA, and last season won an NCAA national championship with Ohio State. She can now add PWHL Draft pick to her resume as the defender was picked 5th overall in the first round of the PWHL Draft.
Barnes, 25, collected 11 goals and 36 points in 39 games with the Buckeyes. Prior to this season, Barnes spent five seasons with Boston College, captaining Boston College in her final two seasons with the program.
Following Ohio State's title, head coach Nadine Muzerall praised her top defender who blocked five shots in the 1-0 Ohio State win.
“We knew going against such a great opponent as Wisconsin we were going to need our leaders to be our experienced players, and that is Cayla Barnes," Muzerall told The Columbus Dispatch. "She was so responsible back there. You want to have the puck on the stick of somebody like Barnes because she just has such a high IQ and a great vision of the ice. She knows to move it fast and be simple with the plays and then move up.”
Internationally, Barnes has done it all. She's won two World Championship gold medals and three World Championship silvers, along with a gold and a silver at the Olympic Games; not to mention three gold medals at the U-18 World Championships representing Team USA.
Individually at those tournaments, Barnes was twice named the U-18 World Championship Best Defender, and also earned an All-Star selection at the World Championships in 2019.
The California product, who stands only 5-foot-2, is a physical competitor who can quickly turn pucks up ice and contribute at both ends.