Four Canadian Sport School Hockey League (CSSHL) alumna have been selected to represent Team Canada as they face-off against Team U.S. for the first three games of the 2024-25 Rivalry Series, starting November 6 in San Jose, California.
Among the 25 players selected include Emily Clark, Chloe Primerano, Danielle Serdachny and Sophie Shirley.
Clark spent two seasons with the Okanagan Hockey Academy (OHA) Female U18 Prep season. The Saskatoon, SK forward would go on to play five seasons in the NCAA with the University of Wisconsin, recording 70 goals and 76 assists in 147 games. She spent last season in the PWHL with Ottawa where she had 4 goals and 11 assists in 24 games.
Internationally Clark has represented Canada since 2011. To this date she has two U18 Women’s Worlds gold medals, one bronze, four silver and three gold medals at the Women’s World Championships. She has captured a silver medal at the 2018 Olympics and a gold medal a the 2022 Olympics.
Primerano will make her National Women’s team debut at just 17 years old. The University of Minnesota freshman represented Team Canada at the 2024 U18 Women’s World Championships, earning MVP, Best Defender, Tournament Allstar and Leading Scorer honours, setting the record for most points by a defender at one U18 Women’s Worlds (16) and most points by a Canadian at one U18 Women’s Worlds. This summer she was named to the Canada Women’s U18 team that competed against the United States for a three-games series from August 14-17, 2024.
Primerano became the the first female-skater ever selected in a CHL Draft when the Vancouver Giants selected her in the 13th round, 268th overall at the 2022 WHL Draft. In just two seasons in the Female U18 Prep division with RHA Kelowna the North Vancouver, BC defender graduated from the CSSHL as the most successful student-athlete in women’s history. Her 105 career assists are most all time among Female U18 Prep skaters while her 164 career points rank 1 back of the all-time record. Her 59 career goals are fourth most all-time, and most among defensemen, giving her the all-time career lead among defensemen in assists (105), goals (59) and points (164). This past season Primerano set the Female U18 Prep single season record, among all skaters, with 35 goals, 54 assists and 89 points in just 29 games to earn her second straight CSSHL Female U18 Prep MVP Award.
In 10 NCAA games this season Primerano has 1 goal and 5 assists.
Selected second overall at the 2024 Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) Draft, by the Ottawa Charge, Serdachny spent two seasons in the CSSHL with the Pursuit of Excellence (POE) Female U18 Prep team. She joined the program in 2017/18, finishing third in team scoring with 46 points. The following year she would finish second in team and league scoring with 58 points, bringing her CSSHL career total to 104 points in 49 games. That year she would also represent Team Canada at the World Women’s U18 Championship, tallying four points and being named as a ‘Top 3 Player on Team’, helping Canada capture gold.
The Edmonton, AB forward made the jump to the NCAA in 2019/20 with Colgate University. In 5 seasons with Colgate she finished with 238 points in 180 games. Her 61 points in 2023/24 were fifth among NCAA skaters while her 71 points in 2022/23 led all NCAA players. During her NCAA career she would be named a NCAA First Team All-American twice.
Serdachny scored the overtime winner in the Gold Medal game for Team Canada at the 2024 Women’s World Championships. To go along with her 2024 gold medal she has a 2023 silver medal and a 2019 gold medal at the U18 Women’s Worlds.
Shirley played in the CSSHL for OHA before joining the University of Wisconsin for five seasons. In 177 NCAA games the Saskatoon, SK forward had 81 goals and 108 assists while winning three NCAA Championships. Last PWHL season Shirley had 3 goals and 2 assists in 20 games with Boston.
On the international stage she has won two U18 Women’s Worlds silver medals while being named the Tournaments Best Forward in 2017.