From Fox Chapel to Milan, Pittsburgh’s own Gwyneth Phillips started playing hockey as a kid and really honed her goalie skills.
At 25 years old, she’s had a decorated career.
Channel 11’s Shelby Cassesse talked to Philips’ former coaches at Shady Side Academy, where she won championships and laid the foundation for a big opportunity with Team USA.
Before making monster saves in the PWHL or winning the 2025 playoff MVP award from Ottawa, Phillips was a kid who had a gift for keeping things light.
“She was a really fun teammate that lifted the spirit, I think, in the room, even when, you know, things got serious, and we were in championship weekends and games, she was always light and, you know, made everyone else feel comfortable,” former Shady Side Academy coach Kate Binnie said.
Shady Side Academy preserved that spirit with one of her old goalie pads — signed “BGE” — best goalie ever.
When it came time to lock in between the pipes, Phillips rarely missed.
“She just had, like, a different gear that other kids don’t have, and then just not always offer the games on the ice, but in the gym, in the classroom, everything she did, she did at an elite level,” former coach Pam Lloyd said.
Phillips said she picked up hockey to be like her older brother.
Her family moved from Madison, Ohio, to Pittsburgh for opportunities with Shady Side Academy and Penguins Elite.
“Being in Pittsburgh kind of just opened up hockey for me,” Phillips said. “That’s where I started skating with a goalie coach, and then started to actually learn how to play goalie.”
After three championships at Shady Side Academy, she continued her career at Northeastern University.
She made a quick impact with the Ottawa Charge in the PWHL but Team USA wasn’t always realistic, until recently.
“I think they kind of took a chance on me a little bit and brought me to tryouts in April for worlds. So it’s like a week-long process, and I think I managed to surprise a few people,” Phillips said.
That opportunity turned into an invitation to the Olympics.
“It was, you know, something I dreamed about as a kid,” Phillips said. “But as I got older and had to be realistic, it kind of dropped. So it’s really cool to kind of go through that journey of, like, reevaluating my goals, and then maybe, you know, getting to come back and push for something that I kind of thought at one point was unattainable.”
Pittsburgh may not be her hometown, but as Phillips takes the ice with Team USA, the community that helped shape her will be watching closely.
“To see her and be a part of that journey, and she’s still the same fun-loving person that you knew while she was here in high school,” Binnie said. “It’s just really special and important. I have three kids and two of them are girls and they play, so these are great role models for them too.”
Download the FREE WPXI News app for breaking news alerts.
Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch WPXI NOW
©2026 Cox Media Group
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/XCUXZC2XYZHCRGNNGKFEX6U3LQ.png)
