With St. Thomas and then-No. 4 Minnesota Duluth deep into overtime, Ella Boerger didn’t force anything. She found an opening, and her goal marked the St. Thomas women’s hockey team’s first time sweeping a nationally-ranked opponent.
That play exemplified what has made senior forward Boerger one of the top players in college women’s hockey: patience, hockey IQ and a gift for seeing what’s on the ice before everyone else.
Now in her final season with St. Thomas, Boerger has gone from the 2023 Minnesota Ms. Hockey to the Tommies’ captain. She has also earned national recognition and begun building a name beyond the rink. As she closes out her college career, she said the next step is a professional one.
“I would say (the Professional Women’s Hockey League) is the goal,” Boerger said. “I always kind of say if it’s meant to be, it’ll be.”
Boerger’s beginnings
St. Thomas coach Bethany Brausen has been coaching D-I women’s hockey for over a decade at the University of Minnesota and St. Thomas. She first saw Boerger play before the Andover native had become a household name. She told other coaches to “mark my words” about the then-high school underclassman, who was still under the radar.
Boerger verbally committed to St. Thomas her junior year at Andover High School, and her signing was announced on Nov. 14, 2022, during her senior year. In 2023, Boerger went on to win Ms. Hockey, awarded to the best high school senior girls’ hockey player in Minnesota, and she arrived at UST as part of a recruiting class that was ranked among the best in the country.
Brausen said Boerger was among the first to commit as the newly-D-I program built itself up.
“She saw the vision, she knew it was going to be challenging,” Brausen said. “But she was so bought into the idea of building something special here.”
Boerger immediately had an impact. She won WCHA Rookie of the Week honors three times as a first-year and finished the 2023-24 season with 24 points (11 goals, 13 assists), a total that surpassed the program’s single-season Division I points record at the time.
As a sophomore, she scored six goals and tallied 11 assists. In her junior year, she scored eight goals with 20 assists, setting the UST record for the most assists in a single D-I season. Through 10 games in her senior season, she has one goal and four assists and now holds the Tommies’ D-I era record for the most career assists.
Despite her impressive performance, Boerger said it didn’t come out of a desire to prove herself when she arrived.
“It was a good team environment and my goal was just to come in and try my hardest,” Boerger said.
Brausen described Boerger as a “cerebral” player whose speed, ability to read the ice and talent for playmaking set her apart from the beginning, although it “doesn’t show up on the stat sheet.” Over the years, the coaching staff pushed her to increase her physicality and competitiveness.
That work showed this past summer, when Boerger was selected for the 2026 Team USA Hockey Collegiate Series roster, playing a three-game series against Canada alongside other top American players with college eligibility.
Boerger said the USA Hockey camps helped her get better at physicality and one-on-one battles. She said she came back to the Tommies with other lessons on the speed of the game and puck management.
Brausen compared Boerger’s style to Kelly Pannek, the Minnesota Frost forward known for deception and finding open ice, and said opponents who aren’t careful get iced out.
Leadership and teammates
Brausen said Boerger has grown into her role as captain after starting out as a quieter presence.
“It’s been really fun to see her flourish here, to really find her voice and find her conviction,” Brausen said. “Sometimes it’s still in small, quiet moments where she comes alongside someone one-on-one. But then there’s other big moments for her where you’ll catch her walking up and down the bench and hitting everyone on the shin pads, getting everyone fired up.”
Boerger said being captain is something she doesn’t take for granted.
“I’m just grateful to be in this position,” Boerger said. “Being a captain to me, just means to be the best person you can and having a great influence on people around you. Especially your teammates, and just our circle here at St. Thomas, and I think that’s just what I try to do every day.”
Maddie Brown, a Tommie senior forward and Boerger’s teammate since their days at Andover High School, said she’s witnessed that quality for years. The two played on the same line when Andover won a state championship during their junior year, and they now are roommates.
“I wouldn’t want to play with anyone else for the past six years,” Brown said. “She’s become one of my best friends both on and off the ice.”
Even though Brown and Boerger made their college decisions independently, they each wanted to “be a part of a program that was growing.”
“We knew the program was headed in a positive direction, and we knew that it could have great potential,” Brown said. “We thought to do that together would be amazing, and just to be part of a recruiting class that was also great. We wanted to join in on that, and playing here together was, obviously, a dream come true.”
As Boerger prepares to graduate from St. Thomas, Brown said she believes her friend’s impact will reach well beyond the rink.
“I think that she’s a better person than she is a hockey player, and she’s an incredible hockey player,” Brown said. “She has an incredible future and impact on everyone around her.”
Her NIL era
Boerger is also among the few St. Thomas athletes to hold multiple name, image and likeness deals. She has worked with CCM, Absolute Filth Hockey Wax and Slate Milk on year-long agreements, and she is currently partnered with Wings Credit Union, a longtime sponsor of St. Thomas Athletics.
Boerger said she enjoys the opportunities and doesn’t feel any added pressure on the ice.
“I think my perspective on it is that being a student athlete is just a really cool time in life,” Boerger said. “And if I get opportunities to have an NIL deal, it’s hard to say no, because you only can do that for so long in your life.”
Last November, Boerger and Brown also teamed up with A Bar of Their Own, Minnesota’s first women’s sports bar, to launch two limited-edition menu items: the Ella Boerger Burger and the Maddie Brown Brownie. The pair also hosted the Brownie & Boergs Hockey Camp, a youth camp aimed at growing girls’ hockey, in Andover last summer.
Giving back and going forward
When not on the ice with the Tommies, Boerger is also a youth hockey instructor with the Andover Jr. Huskies and volunteers with Feed My Starving Children. She said that giving back is a priority for her.
“Growing up, the youth hockey association just meant so much to me,” Boerger said. “So, I think it’s just important to give back and try and influence the world in positive ways that I can.”
Boerger said her proudest moments at St. Thomas have been team achievements.
“Last year when we won our first game in (Lee and Penny Anderson Arena), that was very memorable,” Boerger said. “Setting the program record with our team for 12 wins last year was just really cool, and I think it meant a lot to me and all the other girls because we made it official that we have taken steps in the right direction.”
Boerger said she’s trying not to get ahead of herself and that she’s focused on this season, taking it “day by day.” However, she said it would mean a lot to follow in the footsteps of players like Maddie Rooney, her favorite professional female player.
“I think the PWHL has grown so much significantly,” Boerger said. “All those women in it are just trailblazers for the rest of us, and I think it would be so cool if I got the opportunity.”
Brausen said Boerger’s impact on St. Thomas will outlast her time on campus.
“Few people will be more impactful than Ella has been in our program’s history,” Brausen said. “What Ella doesn’t realize, is that her impact is going to go far beyond that in the years to come.”
Reagan Boschulte can be reached at bosc3829@stthomas.edu.
