With five of her former players competing in the Torino Olympics, women's ice hockey Head Coach Digit Murphy is keeping a close eye on the Games. After Tuesday's game, she reflected a bit on the alums competing.
The two Olympic veterans from Brown, forward Katie King '97 (United States) and defenseman Becky Kellar '97 (Canada), both have Olympic gold from the 1998 and 2002 Games, respectively. Murphy said she'd like to see a win by the United States so that three Olympic rookies - forward Kathleen Kauth '01, forward Kim Insalaco '03 and goaltender Pam Dreyer '03 - can get a taste of the gold.
"Those three weren't 'golden children' when they came here. They worked their butts off to get where they are. They're true Brown hockey kids," Murphy said.
With Canada and the United States likely headed for the gold medal game after sweeping their respective pools, it would seem that Murphy will have an alum at the top of the medal stand no matter what.
"Brown wins either way," she said.
United States, Canada finish round-robin play undefeated
Team USA overcame an early 3-1 deficit against Finland with the help of Katie King '97. King's goal 1:28 into the third period tied the game at three, and the United States tacked on four more over a five minute, 20-second span later in the period to close out the Finals. The United States finished with a 3-0 record in Group B.
Defenseman Becky Kellar '97 and the Canadian women's ice hockey team defeated Sweden 8-1 to clinch the top seed out of Group A. Kellar again had no points but had a plus-2 rating to give her a plus-8 for the tournament's first three games.
The wins send both teams onto semi-final matches Friday and keep the two squads on a collision course for the gold medal game Feb. 20. Team USA will square off with Sweden. The Canadians, arguably the gold medal favorites after outscoring their first three opponents 36-1, will play Finland.
