PWHL New York defender Ella Shelton scores first goal in league history

History was made in the first period of the inaugural of the Professional Women’s Hockey League season.

In a chaotic opening 20 minutes between PWHL Toronto and PWHL New York on New Year’s Day, NY defender Ella Shelton scored the first goal in league history.

A little past the halfway point of the frame, a faceoff win by Alex Carpenter led to Shelton finding the puck near the point. The Canadian national team star threw a wrister on goal, and it made its way through traffic, sneaking through the five-hole of Toronto goaltender Kristen Campbell to give her side the 1-0 lead.

New York, who someone from the DFO crew said was going to have to score their way to wins, really caught the home team at the Mattamy Athletic Centre off guard. At one point, New York was outshooting Toronto, 11-4, with their pressure earning the first power play in league history, though they were unsuccessful with the play advantage.

Despite Toronto pushing back with some great looks near the end of the first period, New York’s goaltender, Corrine Schroeder, made some big stops to keep her team in the lead heading into the first intermission.

Shelton was New York’s first-round pick in the first-ever PWHL Draft. The Ingersoll, Ontario native has been a member of Team Canada since the 2021 IIHF Women’s World Championships, helping the team win gold at back-to-back Women’s Worlds, as well as gold at the 2022 Olympics.

She was a two-time NCAA national champion at Clarkson University, before spent two of the last three seasons with the Professional Women’s Hockey Player’s Association, playing with Team Scotiabank during last season’s Secret Dream Gap Tour.