Sofianna Sundelin (born 13 January 2003) is a Finnish

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

player for

St. Cloud State St. Cloud State University (SCSU) is a public university in St. Cloud, Minnesota, United States. Founded in 1869, the university is one of the largest institutions in the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system. In the fall of 2023, it ...

in the

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest division of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athlet ...

and member of the Finnish national team.

Playing career

Sundelin began playing ice hockey with the

minor ice hockey Minor ice hockey or minor hockey is an umbrella term for amateur ice hockey which is played below the junior age level. Players are classified by age, with each age group playing in its own league. The rules, especially as it relates to body c ...

department of HC Ässät in

Pori Pori (; ; ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Satakunta. It is located on the west coast of the country, on the Gulf of Bothnia. The population of Pori is approximately , while the Pori sub-region, sub-region has a population of a ...

, the western neighbor of her hometown of

Ulvila Ulvila (; ) is a List of cities and towns in Finland, town and municipalities of Finland, municipality of Finland. It is one of the six medieval cities of Finland, as well as the third oldest city in the country. Ulvila was granted charter as a ...

, near the

Bothnian Bay The Bothnian Bay or Bay of Bothnia (; ) is the northernmost part of the Gulf of Bothnia, which is in turn the northern part of the Baltic Sea. The land holding the bay is still rising after the weight of ice-age glaciers has been removed, and ...

in southwestern Finland. During her youth career, she also played with girls' teams of

Panelian Raikas Panelian Raikas, abbreviated PaRa, is an ice hockey club in the Panelia area of Eura municipality in Finland. PaRa was established in 1920 as an athletics club but, as of 2024, it exclusively operates departments in ice hockey. The club's home ...

(PaRa) in

Eura Eura () is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Satakunta region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . The muni ...

. Sundelin played five seasons with

Team Kuortane Team Kuortane is an ice hockey team in the Auroraliiga, the premier women's hockey league in Finland. They are based at the Kuortaneen urheilulukio in Kuortane, a small town in South Ostrobothnia, and play at the (). The team was founded by the ...

(2018–2023) in the

Naisten Liiga The Kansallinen Liiga ('National League') is the premier division of women's football in Finland. It was previously called the Jalkapallon naisten SM-sarja ('Women's Football Finnish Championship Series') during 1974 to 2006 and the Naisten L ...

(NSML; renamed in 2024), the premier national women's ice hockey league in Finland. She ended her career with Team Kuortane second on the lists of all-time points and goals scored for the team.

College

Sundelin joined the St. Cloud State Huskies women's ice hockey program as an incoming

freshman A freshman, fresher, first year, or colloquially frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational in ...

for the 2023–24 season. She made an immediate impression, notching two assists across the season opener two-game series against the

Union Garnet Chargers The Union Garnet Chargers comprise the 24 teams representing Union College in intercollegiate athletics, including men and women's basketball, crew, cross country, ice hockey, lacrosse, soccer, swimming & diving, tennis, and track and field. Men' ...

. Her point total led all rookies in the

Western Collegiate Hockey Association The Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) is a college ice hockey conference which operates in the Midwestern United States. It participates in the NCAA's Division I as a women's-only conference. From 1951 to 1999, it operated as a me ...

(WCHA)

conference A conference is a meeting, often lasting a few days, which is organized on a particular subject, or to bring together people who have a common interest. Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always d ...

and resulted in her being named the first WCHA Rookie of the Week on 26 September 2023. In her

sophomore In the United States, a sophomore ( or ) is a person in the second year at an educational institution; usually at a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of Post-secondary school, post-secondary educatio ...

season, Sundelin was named WCHA Forward of the Week for the week of 3 February 2025, after collecting four points (3+1) across the Huskies' series split against St. Thomas.

International play

As a

junior ice hockey Junior ice hockey is amateur-level ice hockey for 16 to 20 year-old players. National Junior teams compete annually for the IIHF World Junior Championship. The United States men's national junior ice hockey team are the defending champions from ...

player with the Finnish national under-18 team, Sundelin participated in the IIHF U18 Women's World Championships in

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

and

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

, winning a bronze medal at the 2019 tournament. She made her senior national team debut at the

2021 IIHF Women's World Championship The 2021 IIHF Women's World Championship was an international ice hockey tournament organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), which was contested in Calgary, Alberta, from 20 to 31 August 2021, at WinSport Arena. It was ori ...

, contributing an assist to Finland's bronze medal performance, and went on to win a bronze medal while representing

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

in the women's ice hockey tournament at the

2022 Winter Olympics The 2022 Winter Olympics, officially called the XXIV Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Beijing 2022 (2022), were an international winter multi-sport event held from 4 to 20 February 2022 in Beijing, China, and surrounding areas wit ...

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

. Her first goal at a major international event was scored against in the preliminary round of the

2022 IIHF Women's World Championship The 2022 IIHF Women's World Championship was an international ice hockey tournament organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) which was contested in Herning and Frederikshavn, Denmark, from 25 August to 4 September 2022, at th ...

and was assisted by

Kiira Yrjänen Kiira Yrjänen (born 2 January 2002) is a Finnish ice hockey player and member of the Finnish national team. She is signed with Leksands IF in the Swedish Women's Hockey League (SDHL) through the 2025–26 season. International play As a junio ...

Personal life

Sundelin attended

secondary school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...

Kuortaneen urheilulukio Kuortaneen lukio ja urheilulukio or the Kuortane Lukio and Sports Academy is a general and sports-specialised , or school, in Kuortane, Finland. The sports academy is overseen by the Finnish Olympic Committee and affiliated with the Kuortane Oly ...

('Kuortane Lukio and Sports Academy') in

Kuortane Kuortane is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the South Ostrobothnia region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . The neighboring municipalities of Kuortane are ...

, Finland. Her intended major at

St. Cloud State University St. Cloud State University (SCSU) is a public university in St. Cloud, Minnesota, United States. Founded in 1869, the university is one of the largest institutions in the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system. In the fall of 2023, it ...

is exercise science.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

Awards and honors

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sundelin, Sofianna 2003 births Living people Finnish expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Finnish women's ice hockey forwards Ice hockey people from Satakunta Ice hockey players at the 2022 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 2022 Winter Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for Finland Olympic ice hockey players for Finland Olympic medalists in ice hockey People from Ulvila St. Cloud State Huskies women's ice hockey players Team Kuortane players 21st-century Finnish sportswomen