For the second year in a row, Doug Derraugh ’91 and the Cornell women’s hockey program have produced a selection in the Professional Women’s Hockey League Draft. This year — for the first time — that player is a first round draft pick.
Rory Guilday ’25 was selected with the fifth pick by the Ottawa Charge in the 2025 draft’s opening round held at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Ottawa, Ontario. Guilday is set to join Brianne Jenner ’15 in Canada’s capital city, as well as the five other Cornell alumnae in the league.
“It’s pretty special,” Guilday said about being selected in front of the Ottawa Charge fans. “Especially to be surrounded by these people and this crowd. It makes me that much more excited.”
The selection of Guilday rounded out the top five picks in the draft, with four of the five selections coming from ECAC teams.
Guilday was widely projected to be taken early in the draft due to her impressive collegiate and international resume. On East Hill, the Minnesota native provided a steadying force defensively all four years, while tallying 52 career points for Cornell. During her senior year, she helped power Cornell to its first ECAC title since 2014 and was named Third Team All-ECAC.
Guilday also brings plenty of international experience to the PWHL. Not only has she played in 38 career games for Team USA, but she has also been a part of three Women's World Championship medals and a Six Nations Tournament title.
At 5’ 11”, Guilday has earned a reputation as a dominant defender thanks to both her size and her smart play. The Sun’s 2025 Female Athlete of the Year does the little things right defensively — such as closing passing lanes and keeping her head up on defense — while also earning praise for her ability to use her physical style of play without drawing the ire of referees.
Offensively, Guilday has not produced at the rate of other defenders such as Haley Winn and Nicole Gosling (who were drafted second and fourth overall respectively), but her slapshot ranked among the hardest in the NCAA and even had its own play in Cornell’s offense.
“One of our plays, we called it the ‘Red Sea’ because you just gave her the puck and she would just wind up and everyone would get out of the way because her shot’s so hard,” said Gabbie Rud ’25.
During her senior year in Ithaca, Guilday served as a captain for Cornell, and her teammates raved about her as a teammate both on and off the Ice.
“She sees the game really well, and she’s a big, strong girl,” said Ashley Messier ’25. “She’s tall, powerful, [and] she uses her size to her advantage. She’s just so consistently a shutdown defender.”
Ottawa is coming off of a successful second campaign, reaching the Walter Cup Final before losing to the Minnesota Frost in four games, with all four of those going to overtime. Despite the loss in the title game, Charge goaltender Gwyneth Philips earned the Ilana Koss Playoff MVP Award. The Charge are led by head coach Carla McLeod.
“It’s truly surreal,” Guilday said about being drafted. “Just trying to take it all in.”
The PWHL wrapped up its second season in late May, with Minnesota repeating as the Walter Cup champion. The league, which is the most recent in a long history of attempts at creating a long-lasting and stable professional women’s hockey league in North America, continues to set attendance and viewership records and is expanding to Vancouver and Seattle for the 2025-2026 season.
Jane McNally is a senior editor on the 143rd editorial board and was the sports editor on the 142nd editorial board. She is a member of the Class of 2026 in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. You can follow her on X @JaneMcNally_ and reach her at jmcnally@cornellsun.com.
Eli Fastiff is a senior editor on the 143rd editorial board and a member of the class of 2026 in the College of Arts and Sciences. You can follow him on X @Eli_Fastiff and reach him at efastiff@cornellsun.com.
