Alexandria Cavallini (née Rigsby born January 3, 1992) is an American
ice hockey
Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...
goaltender, currently a member of the
PWHPA
The Professional Women's Hockey Players Association (PWHPA) is a nonprofit 501(c)(6) organization dedicated to advocating for the promotion of professional women's ice hockey. It was founded in May 2019 following the dissolution of the Canadian W ...
.
She has competed in numerous tournaments for the
United States women's national ice hockey team
The United States women's national ice hockey team is controlled by USA Hockey. The U.S. has been one of the most successful women's ice hockey
Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating ...
. She is the first goaltender in USA Hockey history to have competed with the US National Under-18, Under-22, and Senior women's teams. She competed for the
Wisconsin Badgers women's ice hockey
The Wisconsin Badgers women's ice hockey team is the hockey team that represents the University of Wisconsin in Madison, Wisconsin.
History
On October 8, 1999, the Bulldogs played the Wisconsin Badgers in the first ever Women's WCHA conference ...
program 2010–2014, and was on the roster of the
Minnesota Whitecaps
The Minnesota Whitecaps are a professional ice hockey team in the Premier Hockey Federation (PHF; formerly known as the National Women's Hockey League). They play in Richfield, Minnesota, part of the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area, at ...
. She is also the first American-born goaltender to have won an Olympic Gold Medal, an IIHF World Championship, and the
Clarkson Cup
The Clarkson Cup (french: La Coupe Clarkson) is a women's ice hockey trophy, which from 2009 to 2019 was awarded to the winner of the Canadian Women's Hockey Championship (CWHL champion). With the folding of the Canadian Women's Hockey League (CW ...
, having played with the victorious Calgary Inferno in the
2019 Clarkson Cup Finals.
In July 2019, she married her longtime boyfriend, Aidan Cavallini, who played hockey at the University of Wisconsin. Her father-in-law is
Gino Cavallini
Gino J. Cavallini (born November 24, 1962) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey forward. He is the brother of the NHL hockey player Paul Cavallini.
Cavallini played one year for the St. Michael's Buzzers, a Junior hockey team in the ...
, who played 593 NHL games.
Playing career
Cavallini played boys hockey from age six, including AAA boys hockey from age 10. As a freshman in high school, she played for the Chicago Mission AAA Boys Bantam Majors. That team won state and regional championships and participated in the USA Hockey National Championships. In addition to hockey, Cavallini also played varsity girls lacrosse for Arrowhead Head School, in which she won two state titles in 2007 and 2008
Alex Cavallini became the first woman ever to be drafted in the
United States Hockey League
The United States Hockey League (USHL) is the top junior ice hockey league sanctioned by USA Hockey. The league consists of 16 active teams located in the midwestern United States, for players between the ages of 16 and 21. The USHL is strictly ...
when she was selected in the 16th round, 199th overall by the
Chicago Steel
The Chicago Steel are members of the United States Hockey League, joining the league in 2000. The Steel have played their home games at Fox Valley Ice Arena in Geneva, Illinois, since 2015; previously, the team played at Edge Ice Arena in Bense ...
. Of note, the Steel also drafted
Jake Chelios
Jake Chelios (born March 8, 1991), also known as Jieke Kailiaosi, is an American-born professional ice hockey defenseman who is currently playing in China for Kunlun Red Star in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). Born in the United States, he r ...
, son of Red Wings defenceman Chris Chelios in the 4th round, 49th overall and David Bondra, son of sniper Peter Bondra in the 7th round, 82nd overall. Cavallini played the previous two seasons with the Milwaukee Admirals Midget Minor boys team.
NCAA
* December 10–11, 2010: On December 10, Alex Cavallini earned her third collegiate shutout in a conference road victory at St. Cloud State. She improved her won-loss record to 11–1–0. At 11–1–0, Cavallini's .917 winning percentage tops the WCHA and is fourth in the nation. She also ranks third in the WCHA with a 1.86 goals-against average and is fifth in the league with a .919 save percentage.
* At the midway point of her rookie season, she played in 10 games with an 8–1–0 record. Statistically, she has made 194 total saves and allowed 18 goals for a .915 save percentage and a 1.93 goals against average. In her collegiate debut, she earned her first career shutout (a 6–0 win over RPI on October 2). On October 8, Cavallini earned her first WCHA victory with a 7–1 victory over Bemidji State. She made a season-high 37 saves in a 3–2 overtime win against Minnesota Duluth on November 26.
* January 28–29, 2011: Alex Cavallini made a combined 50 saves and allowed three goals as the top-ranked Badgers earned a tie and victory against Minnesota. She made 23 saves on January 28 in a 2–2 overtime tie. The following day, she made 27 saves while earning her 17th victory of the season. The match was played before a women's college hockey record crowd of 10,668. Over the two-game period, she had a .943 saves percentage and had four shutout periods, including the one 5:00 overtime segment. She is now unbeaten in her last 11 games, and her .900 winning percentage leads the WCHA. Her 1.95 GAA is first in the WCHA.
* March 12, 2011: In her first appearance in the NCAA Tournament, Cavallini made 29 saves against the defending NCAA champion Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs. With the victory, Cavallini improved her record to 25–1–2.
* Cavallini played in the 2011 NCAA Women's Division I Ice hockey Tournament championship game and made 15 saves to help the Badgers win their fourth Frozen Four title in six years. She finished her rookie season with a record of 27–1–1.
* Cavallini graduated from the Badgers as the program's all-time leader in wins with 100, minutes played with 7,881:09, and saves with 3,126. Her .941 save percentage is tied for first in program history. A 3–1 victory over Bemidji State helped Cavallini surpass
Jessie Vetter
Jessica Ann "Jessie" Vetter (born December 19, 1985) is an American ice hockey player and a member of the United States women's national ice hockey team. She was also a member of the 2008–09 Wisconsin Badgers women's ice hockey team, which won ...
for the Badgers mark in career wins.
Team USA
She participated in the 2009 IIHF Under 18 Women's World Championship and won a gold medal. Statistically, she had a .947 saves percentage with a 1.28 goals against average. In addition, she participated in the 2008 and 2009 USA Hockey Women's National Festival. From 2006 to 2009, she participated in USA Hockey National Development Camps.
On January 2, 2022, Cavallini was named to
Team USA
The United States national team or Team USA may refer to any of a number of sports team representing the United States in international competitions.
Olympic teams
Additionally, these teams may compete in other international competitions such as ...
's roster to represent the United States at the
2022 Winter Olympics
The 2022 Winter Olympics (2022年冬季奥林匹克运动会), officially called the XXIV Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Beijing 2022 (2022), was an international winter multi-sport event held from 4 to 20 February 2022 in Beij ...
.
CWHL
Claimed by the
Calgary Inferno
The Calgary Inferno (previously known as Team Alberta, nickname "Honeybadgers", during the 2011–12 season) was a women's ice hockey team that joined the Canadian Women's Hockey League (CWHL) for the 2011–12 season. The team played its home g ...
in the fourth round of the
2018 CWHL Draft
The 2018 CWHL Draft, the ninth and final in league history, took place on August 26. It marked the first and only draft Jayna Hefford served as CWHL commissioner. The CWHL indicated that general managers were authorized to "pre-sign" their first an ...
, Cavallini became their starting goaltender for the
2018–19 season. In her first season of professional hockey, she earned All-Star recognition, playing with
Emerance Maschmeyer
Emerance Maschmeyer (born October 5, 1994) is a Canadian ice hockey goaltender for Team Bauer, playing from the Montréal hub of the PWHPA. She is a member of Canada women's national ice hockey team (Team Canada), with whom she won the 2021 II ...
for Team Purple in the
4th Canadian Women's Hockey League All-Star Game. Coincidentally, the two played against each other in the
2019 Clarkson Cup Finals, with Maschmeyer starting for Montreal. Of note, Calgary emerged victorious, defeating Maschmeyer and Montreal by a 5–2 count.
PWHPA
Skating for Team New Hampshire during the
2020–21 PWHPA season, Decker participated in a PWHPA Dream Gap Tour event at New York's
Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsylva ...
on February 28, 2021, the first women's ice hockey event at the venue. Playing for a team sponsored by the Women's Sports Foundation, Cavallini stopped 32 of 35 shots in a 4-3 win.
Awards and honors
* Directorate Award, Best Goaltender, 2009 IIHF Under 18 Women's World Championships
* Directorate Award, Best Goaltender, 2010 IIHF Under 18 Women's World Championships
* Runner-up: 2010 WCHA Pre-Season Rookie of the Year
* WCHA Defensive Player of the Week (Week of December 15, 2010)
* WCHA Rookie of the Week (Week of February 2, 2011)
* 2011 NCAA Frozen Four All-Tournament Team
* WCHA Defensive Player of the Week, (Week of October 18, 2011)
* WCHA Defensive Player of the Week (Week of October 25, 2011)
* WCHA Defensive Player of the Week (Week of February 1, 2012)
* 2012–13 Second Team All-America selection
* 2014 Wisconsin Badgers Female Athlete of the Year
* 2014 AHCA first-team All-American
* 2014 WCHA Scholar-Athlete
* 2014 All-WCHA Academic team
* 2014 first-team All-WCHA
* 2014 All-USCHO first team.
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Cavallini, Alex
1992 births
Living people
American expatriate ice hockey players in Canada
American women's ice hockey goaltenders
Calgary Inferno players
Clarkson Cup champions
Ice hockey players from Wisconsin
Ice hockey players at the 2018 Winter Olympics
Ice hockey players at the 2022 Winter Olympics
People from Delafield, Wisconsin
Medalists at the 2018 Winter Olympics
Medalists at the 2022 Winter Olympics
Minnesota Whitecaps players
Olympic gold medalists for the United States in ice hockey
Olympic silver medalists for the United States in ice hockey
Sportspeople from the Milwaukee metropolitan area
Wisconsin Badgers women's ice hockey players
Professional Women's Hockey Players Association players
21st-century American women