Many thanks to Gary and Jeannie Gosselin for keeping me informed from the rink in Anaheim, Calif. over the past week as the Vermont 802 Stars girls U19 Tier-II competed in the USA Hockey National Championships.
The team, which has five girls from the Spaulding varsity team and is arguably the best group of girls hockey players this state has to offer, finished third, falling in double overtime 5-4 to the eventual-champion Alliance Bulldogs.
Apparently, the team could've - and should've - gone further, finishing as at least national runners-up. The semifinal game featured not one but two penalty shots - the game-winner being the second. Even I, who admittedly knows very little about hockey, knows that two penalty shots in one non-NHL game is bizarre.
Still, the Stars represented Vermont well, and knocked off several teams who thought Vermont would be an easy win. Congratulations, girls.
It's just the latest national spotlight for Vermont hockey. Both Norwich teams recently competed for a national title, with the women capturing their first-ever crown and the men looking to add to their haul. Next weekend, Amanda Pelkey is slated to compete with the women's national team and in doing so is vying for a spot on the final roster. In the words of U-32 girls and boys hockey coach Dave Pickel, hockey in central Vermont is "living large."
-Anna Grearson
Good to have you back Anna. Nice write up. No doubt we have some very talented girls hockey players in Central Vermont. Congrats to the 802 Stars!
Posted by: "One Coach" | 04/05/2011 at 01:50 PM