Taylor Wasylk, head coach of the Lindenwood women's hockey team along with current commit Claudia Castellanos captured the gold medal at the 2025 IIHF Ice Hockey Women's World Championship Division II Group A in Bytom, Poland, held from April 7-13.

Skating with the youngest team of the tournament, the Spaniards silenced an expectant home crowd as they dismantled Poland 4-2 in the closing game showdown for the top spot. With the win, the Spanish national team has earned elevation to Division I for the first time in history.

"What an incredible experience this year's world championship was," said Wasylk. "We have earned silver the past two seasons, yet still went into the tournament as the underdog; so to come out with a gold medal is amazing. I feel extremely fortunate to be part of such a great group of young players, and especially fortunate to win the championship alongside Claudia, one of our incoming 2025s."

Overall, the Spanish team went 4-0-1 and outscored teams 23-6 during the tournament. Of the four wins, two of them were via shutout.

Castellanos is poised to become Spain's first NCAA Division I player when she suits up for the Lions next season, following impressive performances with Newark Ironbound in AAA juniors, where she plundered 80 (28+52) points in 58 games last season.

"I am very proud and excited to win the gold with Spain, we have fought a lot to get it," said Castellanos. "Not only did we win a World Championship, we wrote history. But the most emotional thing has been to get it with my future Head Coach of Lindenwood, Taylor Wasylk."

During the tournament, Castellanos compiled six points on three goals and three assists to go along with 29 shots on goal and a plus-5 rating. She is a prolific scorer in international play, compiling a tournament leading 11 goals and 14 points in last year's Women's U18 Division IB, helping Spain to a silver medal.