Edwards becomes 1st Black woman to play for U.S. national hockey team
Laila Edwards became the first Black woman to play for the U.S. national hockey team Saturday.
Edwards, 19, debuted as the USA won the second game of the Rivalry Series against Canada 5-2. She played alongside PWHL New York's Abby Roque and University of Wisconsin teammate Britta Curl on the third line.
The Cleveland Heights, Ohio, native is one of the top young talents in women's hockey. She was named the Most Valuable Player at the 2022 Under-18 tournament and is coming off a 27-point freshman campaign with Wisconsin.
In 12 games as a sophomore this season, Edwards already has 18 points and is a plus-21 with the Badgers.
"It's an honor to be the first Black woman on the national team, but this team's been around for a long time," Edwards said, according to Andscape's Branson Wright. "And not to sound ungrateful, but it would have been nice to have someone that looked like me on that team before me.
"I'm glad that I'm able to be that someone for another little Black girl out there."