Minnesota Duluth’s Ève Gascon is ready to shine in the NCAA tournament

The 2025 NCAA Women's Ice Hockey Championship First Round kicks off with three games on Thursday, with Minnesota Duluth slated for their fifth straight appearance in the tournament. The Bulldogs are looking to move on to the next round and make it further than last year’s end in the quarterfinals. With a 9-5 record in NCAA First Round/Quarterfinals, UMD has a chance to make it further this time around, with a talented team featuring WCHA Rookie of the Year Caitlin Kraemer; All-WCHA Team honorees that include Olivia Mobley, Clara Van Wieren, and Tova Henderson; and star netminder Ève Gascon, who earned honors of her own. The 21-year-old goalie is only in her sophomore campaign. But as she gears up for another appearance with the Bulldogs in the NCAA tournament, the future is bright for the rising star, who is more than ready to take the next step in showing the league what she’s made of.

Gascon was recently named WCHA Goaltender of the Year after finishing the regular season with 14 wins, a 1.85 goals against average, a .943 save percentage, and four shutouts in 27 appearances. She was also named to the All-WCHA First team this year. League wide, Gascon is also a finalist for the HCA National Women's Hockey Goalie of the Year Award, which was created in 2021 to recognize the top female goalie in NCAA Division I hockey. This season, she was named the WCHA Goaltender of the Month twice, WCHA Goaltender of the week three times, and HCA Goaltender of the Month in December. She also represented Canada at the Six Nations tournament in December as part of the Euro Hockey Tour. 

With so much experience this season alone, Gascon is ready to take the helm for Duluth when they face off against Sacred Heart on Thursday in the first round of the NCAA tournament, her second straight appearance. In last year’s tournament, Gascon shut out UConn in her debut, but ultimately fell during her second appearance against fellow WCHA team, Ohio State. In that game, she allowed six goals before being pulled. Duluth ultimately lost 9-0 and saw their tournament run end. 

But Gascon’s latest season has proved fruitful for the sophomore. She started the season winning three straight appearances and six of her first 10. Her overall stats are impressive. Gascon ranks second in most goaltender categories in the conference, with a conference-only 1.90 goals against average and a .943 save percentage. She also leads in shutouts with four, three of those coming against conference opponents. 

Gascon’s biggest asset may well be the flurry of shots she has faced this season. She averages 30.89 saves a game, the most in the conference. She has made at least 32 saves in 13 appearances this season—including conference playoffs—and had six games where she made 40 or more saves including a career-high 58 save loss against the Buckeyes in January. Her 865 saves led all WCHA goaltenders. Gascon has been seeing plenty of shots but also making plenty of saves to go along with them, something she’s been doing since she first began her collegiate career.

Last season as a freshman, Gascon was named to the WCHA All-Rookie Team, after posting five shutouts, a .948 save percentage, and a 1.60 GAA. She followed that up with appearances with Team Canada in their summer development team series against the United States and again in their fall festival, before rejoining the team for the 2024 Women’s Euro Hockey Tour’s Six Nations tournament in December. There, she made three appearances and recorded a 21-save shutout against Finland in the semifinals. She also backstopped the Canadians to a silver medal in the tournament finale against the United States after making 33 saves. She finished the tournament with a 1.69 goals-against average and .932 save percentage. Gascon also appeared at the 2020 IIHF U18 Women's World Championship, where she started in four of Canada’s five games and also won a silver medal. Gascon even made quite the roar when she became the third woman to appear in a game in the QMJHL and the second ever to record a win in the league, in 2022 for the Gatineau Olympiques. 

So what does this all mean? It means that though Gascon is only wrapping up her sophomore year, and only making her second NCAA appearance later this week, the future is bright for her. She can stand tall in net when the Bulldogs need her and with a great team in front of her—most of whom were also named WCHA award winners—Gascon can take Duluth far in this tournament. She has the hardware, the honors, and the experience to do it. It’s not a matter of if she can, it’s a matter of when. And that’s now.