Corinne Schroeder, hailing from Elm Creek, is making a name for her hometown in the world of hockey. The talented 24-year-old goalie recently achieved a shutout for her New York team in the inaugural game of the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL).
The PWHL is a brand-new professional women’s hockey league featuring six teams from Minnesota, New York, Toronto, Boston, Montreal and Ottawa. The league is the first full-fledged league for women’s hockey, and it’s gotten a ton of exposure since its inception.
Schroeder was chosen by the New York team during the first-ever PWHL Entry Draft a few months ago. Following that, she took part in their training camp over the past month and was ultimately named their starting netminder.
“Training camp went really well,” said Schroeder. “It was very busy, but it was awesome to see the team come together through that time.”
On Jan. 1, Schroeder was in goal for the PWHL’s first-ever game between her New York squad and Toronto. The game was broadcast nationally from coast to coast as the entire country was able to see Schroeder shine on television.
Schroeder got between the pipes for New York in Monday’s game against Toronto at that city’s Mattamy Athletic Centre in front of a sellout crowd of 2,537 fans.
New York ended up winning the game 4-0 as Schroeder earned a 29-save shutout, with many of the saves of the high-quality variety.
“I was very nervous for the game,” said Schroeder. “With it being the first ever, it felt like there was a lot of pressure and expectations for the game, but I managed to settle into the game though and played my best. The game went very well. As a team, we did a really good job pressuring Toronto and creating chances for ourselves. We weren’t afraid to get physical either.”
Schroeder’s family watched the game from their home in Elm Creek but will have an opportunity to watch her live soon enough as the season progresses.
“I had a lot of people reach out from Elm Creek with their congratulations and praises. I’m very thankful to everyone who watched the game and was cheering me on back home.”
Schroeder is settling in nicely with her new home in New York. She lives nearby in Stamford, Connecticut, where her team trains. She also got a new set of goalie pads for this season to mark her debut with New York, as she wanted to design her pads initially with some sort of tie to New York City.
“I didn’t want it to look too busy, so I did a simple navy boot, teal up top and then Lady Liberty, the Brooklyn Bridge and the Empire State Building across the width of my pads.”
