The United States team that again will look to strike gold at the IIHF Women’s World Championship has a distinct local flavor. Two assistant coaches and eight players with New England roots are in Calgary prepping for the tournament, which will run Aug. 20-31. The U.S. opens play Aug. 20 with a game against Switzerland....
The United States team that again will look to strike gold at the IIHF Women’s World Championship has a distinct local flavor.
Two assistant coaches and eight players with New England roots are in Calgary prepping for the tournament, which will run Aug. 20-31.
The U.S. opens play Aug. 20 with a game against Switzerland. The Americans have won the past five championships, including the 2019 event when the U.S. skated past Finland for gold.
Assistant coaches include Brian Pothier (New Bedford, Mass.) and Courtney Kennedy (Woburn, Mass.).
Ready to hit the ice is goaltender Aerin Frankel, a Northeastern University graduate student. The defensive corps includes Cayla Barnes, a Boston College redshirt senior; Caroline Harvey, a Salem, N.H., resident and incoming University of Wisconsin freshman; and Megan Keller, a former BC standout.
Harvey, 18, a top prospect and South Kent Selects Hockey Academy product, is the youngest player on the U.S. roster.
At forward, Alex Carpenter, a North Reading, Mass., native and ex-BC star, join Jesse Compher, a former Boston University standout, and two former Northeastern stars — Kendall Coyne Schofield and Hayley Scamurra — in Canada.
The 2020 tournament was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This year’s tourney originally was slated to be held in Nova Scotia in May, but the pandemic forced it to be moved until this month.
The U.S. team arrived Wednesday, Aug. 11 in Calgary. Players and staff members were tested for COVID-19 and then began a mandatory five-day quarantine period.
Fifteen members of the team struck gold in 2019, including Carpenter. All of the games involving the U.S. will be shown on the NHL Network.
