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 teams in international play, having medaled in every major tournament.
In 1998, the women's Olympic hockey team was named the USOC Team of the Year. In April 2015, the women's national ice hockey team was named the USOC Team of the Month.
Women's ice hockey became an Olympic sport at the 1998 Winter Olympics, where the US won the gold medal. As of 2026, in five of the last six Winter Olympics the gold medal match was between the United States and Canada, with the United States winning gold in 2026 Winter Olympics. Since their inclusion in the Olympics' the women's team has appeared in all but one gold medal match with each appearance playing against the Canadian women's team.
On March 15, 2017, players for the U.S. women's ice hockey team announced that they would boycott the 2017 World Championship over inequitable support and conditions for women's ice hockey unless concessions were made by USA Hockey. Members of the team including captain Meghan Duggan made public statements regarding poor pay and conditions for female hockey players. The players were publicly supported by the players' associations for the NBA, WNBA, MLB and the NHLPA. On March 28, 2017, the players agreed to play in the World Championship after an agreement was struck with USA Hockey to increase player pay and support for women's development.
In 2023, team member Laila Edwards became the first black woman to play for the US, and became the first black woman to win a gold medal in women's hockey in 2026. In May 2025, Olympic team captain Hilary Knight announced that the 2026 Winter Olympics would be her fifth and final Olympics, Knight is the only United States female player to win five medals at the Olympics.
During the 2026 Winter Olympics the women's team was undefeated with a perfect record allowing for only one point in their opening game against Czechia during the preliminary rounds prior to the gold medal. The team outscored all of their opponents at 33-2 and won all seven of their games. Megan Keller scored a overtime goal to defeat Canada at 2-1, after Hilary Knight tied the game in the final moments of regulation. Members of the team were named to Olympic all star teams with Caroline Harvey being named a MVP and best Defender, Harvey, Laila Edwards, and Hannah Bilka being named to the Media All-Star Team. Of the 23-person team, nine players are 23 or younger, 12 are newcomers and four made their Olympic debut in the 2022 Beijing Olympics.
After the 2026 Winter Olympics men's ice hockey teams gold medal game, during a phone call with President Trump and the men's team Trump joked that he would also need to invite the WomenâÂÂs Olympic team to the White House and State of the UnionâÂÂwho had also won goldâÂÂor risk being impeached. The women's team rejected the invite to the White House with captain Hilary Knight calling the joke distasteful and lamented the overshadowing of the teams connections and highlighted a good learning point about how women in sports are discussed. During the Olympics the women's team met and dined with actor Stanley Tucci in Milan, Italy. The women's team was also invited by Flavor Flav along with other female Olympian and Paralympian athletes to celebrate their achievements in July 2026 through the She Got Game weekend event.
Roster for the 2026 Winter Olympics.
Head coach: John Wroblewski
Roster for the 2025 Collegiate Series.
Head coach: Molly Engstrom