Ava Kistner (F) commits to Utah W1

May 26, 2022 Salt Lake City, Utah

University of Utah Women’s Division 1 Hockey has received a commitment from Forward Ava Kistner for the upcoming 2022-23 season. Ava started playing hockey at the age of 5 in Moorhead, Minnesota and continued to play with the boys until 8th grade. Throughout her youth and high school years, she also played on teams with CCM Minnesota High Performance and the MN High School Elite League. She was captain of the team her Junior and Senior years. During her senior year, Kistner led the Moorehead Spuds to the first winning season since 2010, was named MVP and given Honorable Mention for the 8AA All Section Team. Her team was also named 2021 Section 8AA Academic Champions that year. She was also selected to the CCM High School NIT tournament, but unfortunately the tournament was canceled due to COVID-19. “After taking a year off from playing hockey, I’m very excited to be a part of the team at the University of Utah. My goal was always to find a team with a great culture that would be the right fit for me. I can already tell I’ve found it,” says Kistner. “Ava is going to be a major threat to our opponents. Her puck-hungry swagger and net-front battles drew us to her instantly. She will bring an intensity to our game that will make us much harder to play against,” Women’s Division 1 Head Coach Braeden Yeo said. Kistner’s major is still undecided at the U. Utah Hockey would like to welcome Ava and wish her the absolute best in the upcoming season!