When women’s hockey took the ice last November against Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, the crowd had no clue that it was about to bear witness to the breakout of the Red’s next big star.
Cornell was already up 2-0 midway through the second period. It received its only power play of the game, and rookie forward Lindzi Avar came onto the rink. A quick pass from then-junior defender Alyssa Regalado gave Avar the perfect opening to net her first collegiate goal.
But she didn’t stop there. A minute and a half into the third period, Avar capitalized on a wayward puck, knocking it directly past the RPI goaltender. Minutes later, she made a solo drive to the net that completed the hat trick.
“I just remember seeing that puck go into the net, go past the goal, and the immediate feeling of how excited my teammates were,” Avar said. “That was the most rewarding thing, and that's definitely a memory I'm going to carry for a while. Not even just scoring the goal, but just the excitement of my teammates for me.”
Avar went on to lead the team in goals, game-winning goals and power play goals in a historic season that ended at the Frozen Four. On a roster including the likes of Gabbie Rud ’25, Lily Delianedis ’25 and then-junior Avi Adam, Avar made an undeniable splash that earned her ECAC Rookie of the Year and Ivy League Rookie of the Year.
To hear her tell the story, Avar’s success came from the support offered by the team.
“Even on [my first] goal, I got a perfect pass. All I had to do was shoot the puck,” Avar said. “That's the perfect representation, too, of the people in that locker room and how we play as a team. You set everyone else up for success. By no means would I have had the season that I did last year if it wasn't for my teammates.”
Now a sophomore, Avar is expected to be a key component of the Red’s front line. She’s proved herself as a powerful force in front of the net with a high hockey IQ, and she has made a respectable name for herself in just one year of college hockey.
Northern Roots
Avar — like many of Cornell’s stars, including Rud, Delianedis, Rory Guilday ’25 and Izzy Daniel ’24 — hails from Minnesota. Her hometown wasn’t merely a product of chance, but strategic positioning.
When she was a young child, Avar’s family lived in Portland, Oregon. She experienced her first exposure to the sport of hockey when her older brother, Zach, turned on the TV to a Vancouver Canucks game.
“[Zach] was like, ‘Oh, can I try this?’ And [our parents] were like, sure,” Avar recalled. “They put my brother in skating lessons, and especially at that age, whatever Zach did, I wanted to do too. They signed me up for skating lessons with him. When I was six, I did skating lessons for about a year. Once I was seven it turned to hockey, and obviously I fell in love with it.”
Once Avar took to the hockey rink, she never looked back. By age 12, her clear talent and passion grew apparent, and she moved to Minnesota, the “State of Hockey,” for an environment that would give her opportunities to hone her craft.
The relocation had its intended effect: Avar attended Breakaway Academy, an athletic-intensive school in which “you did as much hockey as you did school,” for seventh and eighth grade. For these formative years, Avar was the only female student in her year.
“I was always playing with the boys. I think that teaches you to be a little bit different of a player,” Avar said. “It definitely made me more competitive. I think that was huge in shaping my play style now.”
The hockey-centric culture of Minnesota built Avar’s social circle of athletes and passionate fans. Not only was she playing alongside future NHL prospects Jimmy Snuggerud and Sam Rinzel at the Breakaway Academy, but local women’s travel and high school programs recruited top-tier talent as well.
“When I lived in Oregon, all you had were NHL players to look up to, and older boys,” Avar said. “Once you get to Minnesota, since hockey is so vast and there's like a million different players, you start to realize that there's some really talented girls. It was fun to look up to those players like Rory [Guilday] and Grace [Zumwinkle].”
Avar played for four years at Minnetonka High School, where she earned 29 points in her senior season. Her standout teenage years made her a prime candidate for the U.S. national under-18 team, which she played in five games for between 2022 and 2023.
When it came time to decide where to pursue her secondary education, and, importantly, the next four years of hockey, those role models played a huge role. With former idols and teammates Guilday and Rud to take inspiration from, Avar saw Cornell as a perfect blend of competitive hockey and high-level academics.
Avar made her debut with Cornell in the fall of 2024, after winning a bronze medal with Team USA at the Under-18 championship in 2023, and the rest is history.
Big Red Impact
Lynah Rink, site of Avar’s early-season hat trick and her next four goals, was a part of what made her first year with the Red so special. Attendance at the rink ranged from under 500 in the early season to breaking the Cornell women’s hockey spectator record by drawing 3,135 fans to the NCAA Regional Final against Minnesota-Duluth.
“You want to score anywhere you go, but when you score and you hear that crowd, it's a whole new level of excitement,” Avar said. “It felt like it brought the game to a whole new level every time we played in Lynah, especially towards the postseason. It was absolutely electric, and it's everything you dream of as a little kid. A majority of my goals did come from home, and each one felt really good with that crowd.”
For her rookie year, Avar took every opportunity to learn from the community she’d joined, playing alongside the senior leadership she’d looked up to since her years at Minnetonka. Rud and Avar, especially, had made a special connection.
“I asked Gabbie a million dumb questions, and she never second guessed it or judged me,” Avar said. “It really made me feel confident and be able to play free and play my game. As a freshman, there's definitely a learning curve, and you're going to make mistakes. But I never feared making mistakes because of the culture that we have.”
After a freshman season that saw the team hosting – and, of course, winning – the ECAC tournament, as well as traveling to her home state for the Frozen Four, it might seem like Avar has already accomplished it all. However, the goal of an NCAA Championship hasn’t left her mind.
She established her potential last season; now it’s time to flourish. Especially in the absence of several of last season’s key forwards, Avar’s skill will be crucial to a successful 2025-2026 campaign.
“You knew that you were pursuing excellence when it came to hockey here, and that I knew that I was going to be surrounded by a team, especially coaching staff, that really helped me progress and develop as a player,” Avar said. “I can't even describe how great it's been. It was everything I could have hoped for.”
Alexis Rogers is the sports editor on the 143rd editorial board. She is in the Class of 2028 in the College of Arts & Sciences, and she can be reached at arogers@cornellsun.com.
