Local hockey player Ceci Wielenberg makes the roster for the U18 Women’s National Team

By Valerie Hardy 

When the rest of the students at Downers Grove North returned to school after winter break, junior Cecilia (Ceci) Wielenberg was notably absent – and for good reason. She was in Nova Scotia at the International Ice Hockey Federation Women’s World Championships, one of three goalies on the USA Hockey Under-18 (U18) Women’s National Team.

Ceci Wielenberg (right) celebrates with teammates at Worlds.
Photo courtesy of USA Hockey

“I recorded a shutout and got to wear the USA jersey, which is a dream come true.”

– Ceci Wielenberg

As “the youngest and least experienced goalie” on the roster, Wielenberg,“went into Worlds not expecting a lot of playing time,” she said. Instead, she focused on “just enjoying the experience.”

Yet a highlight for Wielenberg from Worlds was her team’s pre-tournament game against Czechia. “I recorded a shutout and got to wear the USA jersey,” she said, “which is a dream come true.”

As goalie, Ceci Wielenberg is a key defensive player for Team Illinois.
Photo courtesy of Eileen Ness

Making the National Team had been one of this goalie’s ultimate goals, maybe even dating back near the beginning of her hockey career. Wielenberg first took to the ice at age 6 after a family friend, whose son had recently joined the house hockey league at the Downers Grove Ice Arena, invited Her and her mother to go ice skating. Wielenberg instantly loved skating and soon joined the house league too. “I was one of the only girls in this league,” she said. “Needless to say, I didn’t touch the puck a lot.” 

However, one day, when she was 8, her team’s goalie was absent, and her coach asked for a volunteer to substitute in the net. “I immediately raised my hand,” Wielenberg recalled. “My coach put me in because, he said, it was the first time he had heard me talk.”

If Wielenberg was one to give up in the face of adversity, her first time as goalie would have also been her last. “I got killed out there,” she said, but she enjoyed “being in the spotlight and being a big factor in the outcome of the game,” so when it was time to register for the next season, Wielenberg asked her mother to sign her up for the goalie position permanently.

Ceci Wielenberg started her travel hockey career with the Naperville Sabres.

At age 10, Wielenberg joined the Naperville Sabres AA travel team. A couple years later, she began playing for Team Illinois, an AAA team. She still plays for Team Illinois and also for a co-op girls’ hockey team comprised of players from Downers Grove North and a few other west suburban high schools.

Though she has one more year of high school and U18 hockey, Wielenberg is looking ahead. She committed to the admissions process at Princeton University, eager for the opportunity to play Division 1 women’s hockey. She said Princeton stood out during the recruiting process because “it has the level of hockey I want to play – a very competitive team – but also is a very well-rounded school.” As a bonus, she already knows players on or committed to the team, and Princeton’s coach was one of the coaches for her team at Worlds.

Since her 12U year, Ceci Wielenberg has played goalie for Team Illinois.
Photo courtesy of Gemma Flaming

Beyond playing college hockey, Wielenberg used to dream of being the first female NHL player. But, with age, reality set in, and Wielenberg believed long-term hockey opportunities for women – “besides playing in ‘beer leagues’ after college” – to be unlikely.

However, her hockey hopes were reignited when the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) launched in 2024. “A lot more girls are starting to get into hockey now because of the PWHL,” Wielenberg said. “That’s really inspiring and gives me goals to work toward.”

Her immediate sights are set on maximizing her final year of eligibility for the U18 National Team, though – this time as one of the “older goalies and in more of a leadership role,” she said.

Wielenberg hopes younger players will look up to her, like she found role models in women’s hockey players Nicole Hensley and Savannah Harmon. Harmon is “also from Downers Grove,” Wielenberg explained. “Watching her play, it clicked in my head that it’s possible to come from a random town in Illinois and actually make it!” n