Erick Robertson remembers nine-year-old Emerance Maschmeyer setting a lofty goal for herself. She wasn't even in high school yet, but Maschmeyer knew she wanted to play hockey for Harvard University. "I've never had a nine year old ever have that as a goal or that much foresight or looking into the future," said Robertson, who runs Level Up Goaltending in Edmonton and coached Maschmeyer for years.
The Ivy League is exactly where Maschmeyer found herself a decade later, eventually breaking the Harvard women's hockey program's saves record, which she still holds.
But she didn't stop there. Next was an Olympic gold medal, a goal Maschmeyer achieved in 2022 after being cut from the 2018 roster.
Long the backup to Ann-Renée Desbiens on Team Canada, 29-year-old Maschmeyer now has the chance to chart her own path as the starting goaltender with Ottawa in the new Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL).