Reagan Rust (born February 25, 1997) is an American

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

player, playing in the

Premier Hockey Federation The Premier Hockey Federation (PHF), formerly the National Women's Hockey League (NWHL), is a women's professional ice hockey league located in the United States and Canada. The league was established in 2015 with four league-owned teams and ha ...

(PHF) the Metropolitan Riveters. She was the first NCAA Division I women's ice hockey player to have come from the state of

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

, and is a member of the

Beanpot A beanpot is a deep, wide-bellied, short-necked vessel used to cook bean-based dishes. Beanpots are typically made of ceramic, though some are made of other materials, such as cast iron. The relatively narrow mouth of the beanpot minimizes evapo ...

Hall of Fame.

Career

Amateur

Rust was introduced to the sport of hockey at the age of five, joining a

rec league Intramural sports are recreational sports organized within a particular institution, usually an educational institution, for the purpose of fun and exercise or a set geographic region. The term, which is chiefly North American, derives from the L ...

organized by the Mississippi RiverKings. As a teenager, she commuted 12 hours every other weekend to play for the

Pittsburgh Penguins The Pittsburgh Penguins (colloquially known as the Pens) are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division of the Eastern Conference, and have playe ...

Elite's U14 junior program. When she was fifteen, she moved to

Lake Placid, New York Lake Placid is a village in the Adirondack Mountains in Essex County, New York, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 2,303. The village of Lake Placid is near the center of the town of North Elba, southwest of Plattsburgh. ...

to attend the National Sports Academy. After it shut down, she moved to

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

to return to the Penguins' U19 program, living with a billet family. In 2015, Rust joined the newly promoted

RIT Tigers women's ice hockey The RIT Tigers women's ice hockey team is one of two hockey teams representing Rochester Institute of Technology in suburban Rochester, New York. The team moved to NCAA Division I women's ice hockey as a member of College Hockey America after many ...

program in the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

Division I. She scored 18 points in 35 games in her rookie season, being named to the

College Hockey America College Hockey America (CHA) is a college ice hockey conference in the United States. It participates in the NCAA's Division I as a hockey-only conference. The conference is made up of five women’s teams, with two in Pennsylvania; two in New Y ...

All-Rookie Team. After two years in Rochester, she transferred to

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original campu ...

. In her second and final year with the team, she was named an

alternate captain In ice hockey, the captain is the player designated by a team as the only person authorized to speak with the game officials regarding rule interpretations when the captain is on the ice. At most levels of play each team must designate one captai ...

. In the 2019 Beanpot, she scored the game-winning goal over

Northeastern The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each se ...

to win the semifinals, and scored the opening goal of the finals, leading the program to its first Beanpot title since 1981. In February 2020, she was inducted into the Beanpot Hall of Fame.

Professional

In 2019, Rust originally planned to join the nearby

Worcester Blades The Worcester Blades were a professional women's ice hockey team in the Canadian Women's Hockey League, based in Worcester, Massachusetts, and played their home games at the Fidelity Bank Worcester Ice Center. The team began play in the 2010–11 ...

of the

Canadian Women's Hockey League The Canadian Women's Hockey League (CWHL; french: Ligue canadienne de hockey féminin ‒ LCHF) was a women's ice hockey league. Established in 2007 as a Canadian women's senior league in the Greater Toronto Area, Montreal, and Ottawa, the league ...

(CWHL), but the league collapsed before she could sign a contract. Instead, she joined over 150 players in the newly created Professional Women's Hockey Players Association (PWHPA), and would spend the 2019–20 season as an independent affiliate of the organization. During the season, she would also participate in the U.S. Pond Hockey Championships as part of a team from Nashville. Before the 2020–21 season, Rust left the PWHPA to join

KMH Budapest Kanadai Magyar Hokiklub SE is a men's ice hockey team playing in the Slovak 2. Liga, and formed in 2006. They play in the city of Budapest, Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of th ...

in the

European Women's Hockey League The European Women's Hockey League, abbreviated EWHL, is an international ice hockey league. Created as the Elite Women's Hockey League in 2004 by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), the EWHL comprises clubs from several countries in ...

(EWHL). In 2017, Rust was offered a spot on the

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

roster for the

2017 IIHF Women's World Championship The 2017 IIHF Women's World Championship was an international Ice hockey tournament run by the International Ice Hockey Federation. It was held in Plymouth Township, Michigan, United States from 31 March to 7 April 2017. The USA Hockey Arena serv ...

, as the entire team was striking with the goal of higher pay and better working conditions. She turned the offer down, choosing to stand in solidarity with the striking players.

Personal life

Rust has spoken out about her struggles with depression and anxiety. She has a degree in economics.

Career Statistics

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rust, Reagan 1997 births Living people AIK Hockey Dam players American women's ice hockey defensemen American women's ice hockey forwards Boston University Terriers women's ice hockey players Ice hockey people from Mississippi KMH Budapest (women) players Metropolitan Riveters players People from Southaven, Mississippi Sportspeople from the Memphis metropolitan area Professional Women's Hockey Players Association players RIT Tigers women's ice hockey players