Ten Current or Former Gophers Named to National Festival Camp Roster

On Monday, USA Hockey announced the rosters for the US Women's National Hockey Festival.  Ten current or former Gophers were invited to the camp.

The U.S. Women's National Festival is a week-long event that takes place annually at the Lake Placid Olympic Center in Lake Placid, New York. The practice sessions and scrimmages, which are used to help select two 22-player rosters for a pair of series against Canada, are open to the public.

Both series against Canada are held simultaneously in late August at the conclusion of the National Festival and alternate between host cities in the U.S. and Canada. The U.S. entries feature an Under-18 Select Team and Under-22 Select Team.

The Festival will take place Aug. 11-16.  The series against the Canadians will occur  from Aug. 19-23 in Lake Placid, New York.

Seven current Gophers were invited to the camp to compete for a spot on the Under-22 Select team.  They include:

• Sydney Baldwin
• Hannah Brandt
• Dani Cameranesi
• Milica McMillen
• Kelly Pannek
• Cara Piazza
• Lee Stecklein

Three former Gophers were also invited to the camp to play for spots in the Senior US National Team Roster.  All three former Gophers played for the US National Team in Sochi.  They include Megan Bozak, Gigi Marvin, and Anne Schleper.

Missing from the roster is Amanda Kessel who is still recovering from post-concussion symptoms from an injury suffered in the lead-up to the Sochi games.

The Gophers also have several recruits that have been named to the camp roster and will compete for a spot on the Under-18 team.  They include:

• Emily Brown--Blaine, MN (incoming 2017)
• Alex Gulstene--Vancouver, BC (2017)
• Patti Marshall--Thief River Falls, MN (Shattuck) (2016)
• Taylor Wente--Maple Grove, MN (2017)
• Alex Wolken--Fargo, ND (Shattuck) (2016
• Grace Zumwinkle--Breck HS (2017)

Good luck to all of the current, former and future Gophers in the next few weeks!