| Gabie Figueroa | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Figueroa in 2015 | |||
| Born | February 21, 1992 Branchburg, New Jersey, USA | ||
| Height | 5 ft 6 in (168 cm) | ||
| Weight | 146 lb (66 kg; 10 st 6 lb) | ||
| Position | Defence | ||
| Shot | Left | ||
| NWHL team | New York Riveters | ||
| Playing career | 2009–2017 | ||
Gabriella "Gabie" Figueroa (born February 21, 1992) [1] is an American professional ice hockey player for the New York Riveters of the National Women's Hockey League (NWHL).
Figueroa was originally a defenseman. [2] She first played hockey when she was a 9-year-old. [3] [4] She got into the sport because a bunch of her brother's friends from school were playing. [5] Before every game, she tapes her own stick. She believes doing so increases her puck control. [3]
She played youth hockey for a number of clubs including Bridgewater Bears, Princeton Tiger Lilies, New Jersey Colonials and Connecticut Polar Bears and The Lawrenceville School. [6] Playing for Lawrenceville, she was named an all state player three times. [4] As a youth player, she sometimes played on all girls teams and mixed gender teams at the same time. [5]
Figueroa attended college at Princeton University, where she played for the women's ice hockey team. [2] [7] Her senior season in 2013-2014 finished with 13 points on 12 assists and a goal. [6] After finishing her career at Princeton, she initially believed her playing days were over because of the lack of opportunities for women to play after college. [3]
On August 15, 2015, Figueroa joined the New York Riveters for the inaugural 2015/16 NWHL season. [8] [2] [7] [3] [9] [10] Because of salary cap restraints, most players needed to work other jobs including Figueroa who made the league minimum of $10,000. As a result, she only trained with the team two times a week with games played on Sunday. [2] [7] [3] When not training, she worked as a project engineer for Gilbane Building Company. [2] [3] That season, she played in all 18 regular season games for the team, along with making post-season appearances. [11] She also played in the first game ever played in the league when the Riveters took on the Connecticut Whales. [12] She also scored the team's first ever goal. [13]
In 2016, she participated in the NWHL Free Agent Camp, watched by general managers from several teams in the league. She was one of only three defenders playing for her team in a scrimmage match. [14] [15] In September 2016, it was announced that Figueroa would join the practice squad for the New York Riveters in their 2016/17 season. [16] [11] Playing for the Riveters in 2017, injuries to other players meant she sometimes was playing as a forward. By mid-season, she had scored three times for her team. [17]
She played for the United States women's u-18 national ice hockey team. [3] With the team for the 2010 IIHF U-18 World Championship, she won a silver medal. [6] [4]
In 2016, she was involved with running a USA Hockey ADM clinic. [4]
Originally from Branchburg, New Jersey, [7] Figueroa attended college at Princeton University. Figueroa graduated from Princeton in 2014 with a degree in structural engineering. [2] [7] [3]
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