Women’s College and Olympic Hockey
|In mighty little Storrs, present and future Olympians play at the Mark Edward Freitas Ice Forum. They’ve also played there in the past. They also play at the TD Bank Sports Center in Hamden and Ingalls Rink in New Haven. At this point, from a general public perspective, college women’s hockey is a developmental system for women’s Olympic hockey around the world. Women who eventually end up representing countries other than the USA and Canada have come to our shores to play hockey at colleges here. That is how highly the NCAA women’s hockey circuit is perceived. Here’s a representation of how deeply tied in the NCAA is with the top two international women’s hockey teams. The USA’s team is widely considered the best team.
USA:
Player’s Name Position Most Recent Team College Team
Brianne McLaughlin-Bittle G Burlington (CWHL) Robert Morris
Molly Schaus G Boston (CWHL) Boston College
Jessie Vetter G Oregon (GLHL) Wisconsin
Kacey Bellamy D Boston (CWHL) New Hampshire
Megan Bozek D Minnesota Minnesota
Gigi Marvin D Boston (CWHL) Minnesota
Michelle Picard D Harvard Harvard
Josephine Pucci D Harvard Harvard
Anne Schleper D Boston (CWHL) Minnesota
Lee Stecklein D Minnesota Minnesota
Alex Carpenter F Boston College Boston College
Kendall Coyne F Northeastern Northeastern
Julie Chu F Montreal (CWHL) Harvard
Brianna Decker F Wisconsin Wisconsin
Meghan Duggan F Boston (CWHL) Wisconsin
Lyndsey Fry F Harvard Harvard
Amanda Kessel F Minnesota Minnesota
Hilary Knight F Boston (CWHL) Wisconsin
Jocelyne Lamoureux F North Dakota North Dakota
Monique Lamoureux F North Dakota North Dakota
Kelli Stack F Boston (CWHL) Boston College
Canada:
Player’s Name Position NCAA School (*current)
Meghan Agosta-Marciano F Mercyhurst
Jocelyne Larocque D Minnesota-Duluth
Lauriane Rougeau D Cornell *
Rebecca Johnston F Cornell
Laura Fortino D Cornell *
Jennifer Wakefield F New Hampshire
Gillian Apps F Dartmouth
Meaghan Mikkelson D Wisconsin
Caroline Ouellette F Minnesota-Duluth
Catherine Ward D Boston University
Brianne Jenner F Cornell *
Haley Irwin F Minnesota-Duluth
Natalie Spooner F Ohio State
Tara Watchorn D Boston University
Marie-Philip Poulin F Boston University *
Genevieve Lacasse G Providence
In addition, Canada coach Kevin Dineen played at Denver.
The world’s best women’s hockey circuit, apart from the Olympics, is here. Canadian parents in elite girls’ hockey circles still very, very strongly consider the NCAA for their daughters after high school. With new facilities, UConn women’s hockey should be amongst the schools developing Olympians for the US and Canada. UConn alumnus Jessica Lutz put Switzerland ahead of Sweden for good in the bronze medal game, 3-2, 13;32 into the third period. The gold medal-winning goal for Canada was scored by a current BU Terrier.
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