RALEIGH, N.C. — On Jan. 1, the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL) had its first game in league history, marking a historic moment for not only the sport of hockey, but for women and girls of all ages all across the world.

For Raleigh-native Mary Derrenbacher, the launch of the PWHL symbolizes hope for things to come as she continues her hockey journey.

Just as the PWHL season continues this month, Derrenbacher will work with the United States under-18 women’s hockey team in Zug, Switzerland to try to bring home a gold medal at the International Ice Hockey Federation games.

Derrenbacher first tried out for the United States team earlier this year at 14. She was the only girl from the entire Southeastern United States to be invited to the final round of tryouts in Lake Placid, N.Y.

In Nov. 2023, at 15, Derrenbacher made the team that will cross the Atlantic Ocean to try to keep an American dynasty alive in women’s hockey.

The United States team has made the gold medal game in the IIHF games in 14 of the last 15 tournaments. In eight of those 14 appearances, the U.S. took home a gold medal. However, the last time the U.S. won was 2020.

Derrenbacher is hoping to help return the United States to glory with a group of girls that she is relatively unfamiliar with in terms of playing as a team. Most of the girls on the team are 17 years old, turning 18. It’s a lot of pressure for a girl who is just in high school.

“Really excited, but it’s a lot of pressure, but I’m just excited to represent my country,” Derrenbacher said. “I’ve never played in Europe before, so it’s definitely going to be something different, especially with a time change and such. So it’s definitely gonna be a challenge.”

At 15 years old, Derrenbacher has a lot to look forward to, whether it be more big tournaments like this, high school tournaments, college and one day, hopefully the PWHL. Being able to succeed in so many situations will be a key for Derrenbacher as she looks to keep improving her skills. 

“Being able to adapt to different systems, you’re going to have to all your life. So learning at a younger age is better because it never really gets easy, because you’re always playing with other people, and just being able to change,” Derrenbacher said. “Playing with better players makes it easier to play with them. So that’s kind of the case with team USA.” 

The United States will play Slovakia in their first game on Jan. 7. Derrenbacher is hoping to use this opportunity on an international stage to make a bigger name for herself in the minds of hockey experts here in the United States. 

“Seeing that there’s something past college hockey, like there’s a future and just to see that grow is amazing,” Derrenbacher said.