Sanni Ahola

Sanni Ahola (born 3 June 2000) is a Finnish ice hockey goaltender for the Ottawa Charge of the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL) and a member of the Finnish national team.

Playing career Ahola developed on the minor ice hockey teams of , a youth ice hockey club in the Malmi neighborhood of Helsinki. She played as a defenseman and in goal throughout her childhood but committed to the pursuit of goaltending by age thirteen.

During her early teens, she served as goaltender with several boys' teams of (IHK) and was the starting net minder for the IHK boys' under-16 (U16) team during the 2014–15 season. In the following season, she split starts for IHK U17 in the U17 Mestis. In addition to backstopping IHK teams, she continued to play as both a skater and goaltender with Red Wing girls' teams. HIFK's inaugural season was an historic success that culminated in the team’s promotion to the Naisten Liiga (NSML), the premier national league in Finland. Ahola maintained a .957 (95.7%) save percentage across seventeen Naisten Mestis games, improving to .967 across five games in the post-season Naisten Liiga qualification series.

Entering the 2019–20 season, she remained HIFK's number one goaltender as the team recruited a number of new players, including Karoliina Rantamäki, French national team players Athéna Locatelli and Emmanuelle Passard, and future Finnish national team player Krista Parkkonen. Ahola achieved a .915 (91.5%) save percentage in 21 games and helped the team secure a playoff berth in their first full Naisten Liiga season.

NCAA By Ahola's own assessment, the 2021–22 season "didn't go exactly as [she] would have liked." Her continued level of play across the remaining games of November 2022 resulted in her selection as the WCHA Goaltender of the Month and as the St. Cloud State University (SCSU) Athletics Female Athlete of the Month. On 14 July 2025, she signed a one-year contract with the Charge for the 2025–26 season.

She recorded her first PWHL win in the Halifax Takeover Series on January 11, 2025 for the Ottawa Charge against the Boston Fleet. Ottawa won 2-1 in a shootout.

International play Ahola was a member of the Finnish national under-18 ice hockey team during 2015 to 2019. She served as backup goaltender to Jenna Silvonen at the 2017 IIHF U18 Women's World Championship and played the preliminary round match against Czechia, recording a .909 (90.9%) save percentage and 2.95 GAA as Finland lost the march 2–3 in overtime.

At the 2018 IIHF U18 Women's World Championship, she recorded the best save percentage (.929/92.9%) and best goals against average (1.81) of all starters at the tournament, and was selected as one of the top-three players for Finland by the coaches.

She made her debut with the Finnish national team in the second tournament of the 2022–23 Women's Euro Hockey Tour, a 5-nations tournament in Ängelholm, Sweden. Starting in two matches, she notched a win against and posted a shutout against .

Ahola was selected to the Finnish roster for the 2023 IIHF Women's World Championship on 20 March 2023, alongside goaltenders Anni Keisala and Emilia Kyrkkö.

On 2 January 2026, she was named to Finland's roster to compete at the 2026 Winter Olympics.

Personal life Ahola was born on 3 June 2000 to Riikka and Jukka Ahola in Helsinki, Finland. She attended the sports high school of the in the Haaga district of Helsinki.

She holds a degree in biology with a specialization in biodiversity, ecology and evolution from St. Cloud State University.

Career statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular seasonPlayoffsSeason Team League GP W L T Min GA SO SV% GAA GP W L T Min GA SO SV% GAA 2018-19 HIFK NMestis 17 15 1 — 1023:33 18 5 95.7 1.05 — — — — — — — — — 2018-19 HIFK NSML — — — — — — — — — 5 4 0 – 275:40 4 1 96.6 0.87 2019-20 HIFK NSML 17 5 10 — 1074:27 48 2 91.4 2.68 3 0 3 – 180:24 9 0 .922 2.99 2020-21 St. Cloud State Huskies NCAA 10 3 5 1541:07 28 2 91.8 3.11 — — — — — — — — — 2021-22 St. Cloud State Huskies NCAA 18 5 13 01056:16 66 0 90.0 3.75 — — — — — — — — — 2022-23 St. Cloud State Huskies NCAA 20 9 11 0 1128:03 47 1 92.3 2.50 — — — — — — — — — 2023-24 St. Cloud State Huskies NCAA 17 10 6 1 1013:23 29 5 93.5 1.72 — — — — — — — — — 2024-25 St. Cloud State Huskies NCAA 19 8 8 3 1108:00 41 2 92.7 1.93 — — — — — — — — — 2025-26 Ottawa Charge PWHL 2 1 1 0 124:37 4 0 92.7 1.93 — — — — — — — — —NCAA totals 84 35 43 5 4845:34 211 10 91.7 2.61 — — — — — — — — —PWHL totals 2 1 1 0 124:37 4 0 92.7 1.93 — — — — — — — — —

International

Awards and honors AwardYear or PeriodInternational World U18 Top-3 Player on Team 2018 World Championship Bronze Medal 2024 World Championship Media All-Star 2024 World Championship Top-3 Player on Team 2024 College WCHA All-Rookie Team 2020–21WCHA Goaltender of the Month November 2022 October 2023 December 2023 SCSU Athletics Female Athlete of the Month November 2022 HCA National Goaltender of the Month September/October 2023 December 2023 HCA National Goalie of the Year semifinalist 2023–24 All-WCHA First Team 2023–24 WCHA Goaltender of the Year 2023–24