The 2015-16 American Family Insurance ALL-USA Girls Hockey Teams were selected by USA TODAY High School Sports based on performance, level of competition and strength of schedule.
FIRST TEAM: Meet the ALL-USA First Team
SECOND TEAM: Meet the ALL-USA Second Team
COACH OF THE YEAR: Jaime Grossman, Eden Prairie (Minn.)
Cayla Barnes (Photo: Charles George Photography)
Cayla Barnes had a breakout season in 2015-16 as a junior at New Hampton School in New Hampshire.
A 5-4 defender headed to Boston College, he scored 12 goals and added 23 assists in 28 games while leading the Huskies to the Lakes Region League title and the No. 6 seed in the Division I New England Prep tournament. Despite Hew Hampton’s loss in the quarterfinals, Barnes earned All-New England first team honors. Even more impressively, Barnes and New Hampton were the only team to defeat New England Division I champs Noble & Greenough (Mass.) all season.
Equally impressive is that Barnes interrupted her scholastic season to play for Team USA at January’s U-18 World Championship in St. Catharines, Canada. She led the tournament with a plus/minus of plus-10 and was tied for the tournament lead with six assists. Her ability to rush the puck out of the defensive zone with speed and make tape-to-tape passes to forwards was a key to the team’s offensive success, and her steadiness as a defender allowed Team USA to aggressively forecheck without worrying about odd-man rushes.
In the title game against Canada, Barnes had the primary assist on the overtime goal that propelled Team USA to a second consecutive U-18 championship. It was also Barnes’ second title, as she was the youngest member of the 2015 squad that won gold in Buffalo, N.Y. Barnes was selected as the tournament’s Directorate Award winner as best defenseman in addition to landing on the Coaches’ All-Tournament Team.
LOOKBACK: Preseason ALL-USA Girls Hockey Teams