Two future Gophers are getting a look from USA Hockey before they ever skate a shift in maroon and gold. Incoming women's hockey freshmen Katya Sander and Sloane Hartmetz have been invited to participate in the 2026 USA Hockey Girls National U19 Training Camp at Goggin Ice Center in Oxford, Ohio, running July 13-16, per Gopher Sports.
Sander and Hartmetz will join roughly 38 players from the 2007 and 2008 birth years at camp, a group that breaks down to about 20 forwards, 14 defenders and four goaltenders, per Gopher Sports. It's a deep pool, and getting an invite in the first place says plenty about where both players stand nationally before they've even set foot on campus.
The Girls National U19 Training Camp is USA Hockey's evaluation and development showcase for the top players in those two age groups, with participants picked after scouting evaluations throughout the 2025-26 season, per Gopher Sports.
For a Minnesota program that's built its identity on stocking the roster with the state's best homegrown talent, seeing incoming freshmen already on USA Hockey's radar is the kind of early signal Gophers fans like to see. Sander and Hartmetz haven't played a game for Minnesota yet, but this week in Oxford, Ohio, they'll be skating alongside some of the top young talent in the country.