Engstrom Named to Olympic Roster
December 28, 2005 | Women's Hockey
Ben Smith, head coach of the United States 2006 Olympic women's hockey team named his 20-player official roster Tuesday in Bloomington, Minn. Former Wisconsin women 's hockey blueliner and All-American Molly Engstrom has been training full-time with the team and was named to the roster.
Out of Siren, Wis., Engstrom is the only Wisconsin native on the team. Before completing her eligibility at Wisconsin, Engstrom skated with the USA women 's national team at select international events including the USA's first World Championship victory earlier this year.
As a Badger, Engstrom capped an already prestigious career garnering first-team All-America honors as a senior. She was named the WCHA Defensive Player of the Year in two consecutive years, as well as a first team All-WCHA selection. In her final season, she ranked among the league and national leaders in scoring among defenders and was a top-10 finalist in the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award.
Team USA's roster consists of 11 forwards, seven defenders and two goalies and include eight former Olympians. Engstrom and 11 others will be making their Olympic debuts.
'We have had an arduous four months where we've been tested under fire and we're looking forward to bringing this group of 20 athletes together to make the final push,' said Smith. 'As Americans we all know what the objective is and this group of athletes gives us the best chance of accomplishing that goal.'
Team USA will play Canada in the final game of the Hilton Family Skate to 2006 Tour on Friday, Dec. 30, at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. CSTV will broadcast the game on a tape-delayed basis on Dec. 31 at 8 p.m. and also stream the game live on its website at cstv.com. Engstrom will face former teammate and current Team Canada member, Carla MacLeod (Calgary, Alberta) in the game.
