Gaining puck possession is a crucial aspect of the sport. Players who can consistently come away from a puck battle, face-off dot, or on retrieval help turn the tides shift after shift for their team.
There's a strong group of NCAA players heading to the 2025 PWHL Draft who fit this bill. Here's a look at some of those specific scenarios, and the advanced statistics showing NCAA leaders among the PWHL Draft class.
Puck Battles %#
When the puck is along the boards, in a scrum, or loose when two or more players are competing for possession, it's a "puck battle." Coaches at all levels will preach about being hard on pucks, and winning one-on-one battles. This puck battle percentage shows the rate at which a player who engages in a puck battle wins, and comes away with possession. It can be considered a sign of strength, stick skills, body positioning, and compete. Here's a look at the top puck battle performers in the NCAA class.
- Dayle Ross, D, St. Cloud State – 65.8%
- Nina Jobst-Smuth, D, Minnesota-Duluth – 63.2%
- Rory Guilday, D, Cornell – 62%
- Keri Clougherty, D, Boston College – 61.3%
- Evelyne Blais-Savoie, D, Vermont - 59.9%
- Olivia Muhn, D, Yale – 59.7%
- Lyndie Lobdell, D, Penn State – 59.4%
- Haley Winn, D, Clarkson – 58.9%
- Kendall Cooper, D, Quinnipiac – 58.2%
- Riley Brengman, D, Ohio State – 58.1%
- Julia Shaunessy, D, Boston University – 57.8%
- Hanna Baskin, D, Minnesota-Duluth – 57.7%
- Nicole Gosling, D, Clarkson – 57.3%
- Mia Biotti, D, Harvard – 56.7%
- Karley Garcia, D, Penn State – 56.5%
- Jenna Buglioni, F, Ohio State – 55.6%
- Vita Ponyatovskaia, D, Yale – 55.2%
- Brooke Becker, D, Providence – 55.0%
- Brianna Brooks, F, Penn State – 54.8%
- Emily Zumwinkle, D, Ohio State - 54.3%
Puck Retrievals After Shots#
On the attack, regaining the puck after a shot is crucial to maintain possession and pressure. It's like a rebound in basketball. The PRAS score per game shows how often a specific player retrieves one of these shots, and we also adjusted this stat for time on ice, because a player who inherently gets more time on ice should have more retrievals making the adjusted PRAS/60 a better predictor of a player's effectiveness in retrievals after shots.
- Jenna Buglioni, F, Ohio State – 3.62 (9.57 PRAS/60)
- Anne Cherkwoski, F, Clarkson – 3.38 (8.48 PRAS/60)
- Vanessa Upson, F, Mercyhurst – 3.35 (9.31 PRAS/60)
- Lily Delianedis, F, Cornell – 3.15 (10.29 PRAS/60)
- Haley Winn, D Clarkson – 3.08 (5.81 PRAS/60)
- Nicole Gosling, D, Clarkson – 2.95 (5.91 PRAS/60)
- Laura Fuoco, F, Dartmouth – 2.89 (7.32 PRAS/60)
- Peyton Hemp, F, Minnesota – 2.86 (9.37 PRAS/60)
- Kira Juodikis, F, New Hampshire – 2.83 (7.91 PRAS/60)
- Morgan Neitzke, F, Lindenwood – 2.81 (7.41 PRAS/60)
- Kristyna Kaltounkova, F, Colgate – 2.76 (6.90 PRAS/60)
- Olivia Wallin, F, Minnesota-Duluth – 2.76 (7.21 PRAS/60)
- Ella Huber, F, Minnesota – 2.74 (7.42 PRAS/60)
- Brynn Saarela, F, Syracuse – 2.74 (6.96 PRAS/60)
- Skylar Irving, F, Northeastern – 2.70 (7.59 PRAS/60)
- Maya Labad, F, Quinnipiac – 2.68 (8.53 PRAS/60)
- Nina Jobst-Smith, D, Minnesota-Duluth – 2.66 (6.47 PRAS/60)
- Brianna Brooks, F, Penn State – 2.65 (8.19 PRAS/60)
- Clara Van Wieren, F, Minnesota-Duluth – 2.65 (6.61 PRAS/60)
- Kylie Aquaro, F, RIT – 2.58 (8.46 PRAS/60)
Takeaways Versus Puck Losses Per Game#
In the real world people say to give more than you take. In hockey, you need to takeaway the puck more than you give it away. Players who have a positive takeaway to puck loss ratio do just that. Here's a look at the top takeaway to puck loss ratios from the NCAA cohort entering the PWHL Draft.
- Dayle Ross, D, St. Cloud State – 2.21
- Karley Gacria, D, Penn State – 2.19
- Rory Guilday, D, Cornell – 2.08
- Kendall Cooper, D, Quinnipiac – 2.04
- Nicole Gosling, D, Clarkson – 1.98
- Haley Winn, D Clarkson – 1.90
- Olivia Muhn, D, Yale – 1.83
- Julia Shaunessy, D, Boston University – 1.82
- Vita Ponyatovsaia, D, Yale – 1.81
- Mia Tsilemos, D, RIT – 1.79
- Hanna Baskin, D, Minnesota-Duluth 1.70
- Tamara Giaquinto, D, Boston University – 1.69
- Lyndie Lobdell, D Penn State – 1.63
- Ava Rinker, D, Connecticut – 1.55
- Nina Jobst-Smith, D, Minnesota-Duluth – 1.49
- Brooke Becker, D, Providence – 1.47
- Riley Brengman, D, Ohio State – 1.47
Defensive Zone Face-Offs (Total Taken / Win %) (Minimum 120 Draws)#
Offensive zone starts and defensive zone starts play a key role in a player's ability to produce. While getting more offensive zone starts is advantageous, seeing a player utilized for defensive zone responsibilities is something PWHL teams will covet. Here's a look at the top draft eligible centres when it comes to defensive zone draws.
- Kristyna Kaltounkova, C, Colgate – 205 / 66.8%
- Ella Huber, C, Minnesota – 123 / 60.2%
- Casey O’Brien, C, Wisconsin – 255 / 56.9%
- Maddy Samoskevich, C/D, Quinnipiac – 160 / 56.9%
- Skylar Irving, C, Northeastern – 192 / 56.8%
- Brianna Brooks, C, Penn State – 140 / 55.7%
- Anna Segedi, C, Colgate – 247 / 55.1%
- Lily Delianedis, C, Cornell – 201 / 51.2%
- Lauren Messier, C, Dartmouth - 234 / 50.9%
- Evelyne Blais-Savoie, C, Vermont - 209 / 49.8%
Face-offs (Total Taken / Win %) (Minimum 250 Draws)#
- Kristyna Kaltounkova, C, Colgate – 735 / 66.0%
- Casey O’Brien, C, Wisconsin – 822 / 62.3%
- Peyton Hemp, C, Minnesota – 266 / 60.5%
- Brianna Brooks, C, Penn State – 588 / 58.2%
- Natalie Mlynkova, C, Minnesota – 395 / 58.2%
- Anna Segedi, C, Colgate – 678 / 58.0%
- Ella Huber, C, Minnesota – 709 / 56.1%
- Skylar Irving, C, Northeastern – 579 / 55.6%
- Maddy Samoskevich, C/D, Quinnipiac - 633 / 55.5%
- Vanessa Upson, C, Mercyhurst - 750 / 54.5%