NORTHFIELD, Minn. — Grace McCoshen of Northfield has committed to the Ohio State Buckeyes after an eye-popping junior season that solidified her as a top blueliner in the state of Minnesota.
McCoshen netted eight goals and 35 assists over 27 contests for the Raiders in 2022-23, which was tied for eighth in the state in scoring by a defender.
"Not only is she a terrific defenseman — she's super defensively sound — she also has the ability to add some offense," said Northfield head coach and former Minnesota Golden Gopher Paige Haley. "Whether it's jumping into the play or taking a big shot from the blue line, she can contribute."
McCoshen was born in Hudson, Wisconsin, but moved to Faribault at a young age. The family made the move so that Grace's older brother, Ian, could play hockey at Shattuck-St. Mary's.
Ian went on to play college hockey at Boston College, reached the NHL with the Florida Panthers and played professionally in Finland this past season.
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Grace played boys hockey with Minnesota Made until middle school. She competed for Faribault High School for one season in eighth grade before making the move to nearby Northfield.
Faribault hasn't fielded it's own girls hockey team since 2019-20, so the move to a different program with more opportunity made sense. Nowadays, any players from Faribault have to commute to skate for the new Metro-South co-op — comprised of Burnsville, St. Paul Academy, St. Agnes, Bethlehem Academy, Faribault, and DeLaSalle.
In McCoshen's freshman and sophomore seasons, she started to draw the eyes of NCAA Division I programs. The Raiders made a state tournament appearance in 2022 when Grace was a sophomore and she went on to win a National Tier I U16 title with team MSP Grey. She also competed in the USA Select-18s camp in 2021 and 2022 against other top skaters in the country.
"I wasn't eager to make the decision right away, I knew I wanted to take my time and find somewhere that I really loved," said the defender on the recruiting process. "I had been talking to Ohio State for a while and I really love their culture and the respect they have for each other. You can just tell that their staff really respects you and appreciates you."
McCoshen officially committed to the Buckeyes on April 19, 2023.
"When you have a skilled player like Grace, she is so skilled and so good ... a couple of years ago I gave her the challenge of 'Hey, you're great at D, that's awesome, but we want you to start contributing,'" added Coach Haley. "So I pushed her to do that, and I give a lot of credit to her for taking risks, she has taken risks to figure out how to play like that and it's serving her very well."
McCoshen is also more than just a skilled hockey player, she's a leader and a great student athlete off the ice too.
"Grace is fantastic, she's an incredible student," added Haley. "Grace is very kind, she is inclusive, she just cares about how people are treated and she does a really good job of that."
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McCoshen will be back at Northfield for her senior season in 2023-24 and is definitely a player that could make the 2024 Ms. Hockey shortlist. The defender has hopes of making the state tournament with the Raiders to cap off her high school career.
She will join the Buckeyes for the 2024-25 season, alongside fellow Minnesotan Josie St. Martin of Stillwater .
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