From hipcheck@whockey.com Sat Aug 7 13:04:12 1999 Date: Sat, 7 Aug 1999 12:21:38 -0400 To: andria@whockey.com From: "Craig Roberts" (by way of Hipcheck Magazine ) Subject: MINNESOTA WOMEN'S HOCKEY SEVEN GOPHERS TO PARTICIPATE IN USA HOCKEY WOMEN'S FESTIVAL Seven players from the 1999-2000 University of Minnesota women's hockey team, along with Gopher head coach Laura Halldorson, have been chosen to take part in the USA Hockey Women's Festival, Aug. 16-22, at the Olympic Center in Lake Placid, N.Y. Seventy-two players will attend this year's Festival, which serves as a national-level identification, training and development camp, which will be overseen by U.S. Women's National Team coach Ben Smith. >>From the Gophers' roster, four forwards, two defense and one goalie were chosen, led by two-time All-American junior defense Courtney Kennedy (Woburn, Mass./Buckingham Browne & Nichols) and third-year captain junior center Kris Scholz (Hugo, Minn./Stillwater Area). They will be joined by junior goalie Erica Killewald (Troy, Mich./Troy), junior defense/center Winny Brodt (Roseville, Minn./Roseville Area) junior forward Ambria Thomas (Fairbanks, Alaska/West Valley), sophomore forward Laura Slominski (Burnsville, Minn./Burnsville) and frosh forward Ronda Curtin (Roseville, Minn./Roseville Area). Halldorson will serve as one of four head coaches at this year's Festival. Last year, she assisted North Dakota men's head coach Dean Blais in guiding the tournament's championship team. This year, the Gophers' third-year head coach will lead the gold team and be assisted by Bowling Green men's head coach Buddy Powers. Four of the Gophers will participate on the red team with Killewald in goal while Scholz is joined by Curtin and Slominski among the team's forwards. Thomas will play on Halldorson's gold team while Kennedy will play for the blue team and Brodt for the white team. Each team will play games on Aug. 17, 18 and 20, in round-robin competition. The semifinals will be held Aug. 21, with the consolation and championship games slated for Aug. 22. Minnesota begins its 1999-2000 season Oct. 15, when it hosts St. Cloud State at 7:05 p.m. -------------------------------------- Craig Roberts, University of Minnesota Assistant Sports Information Director Phone: (612) 624-0522 Fax: (612) 624-8018 Check out the Gophers on the Web at http://www.gophersports.com Or call the Diet Coke Gopher Sports Hotline at (612) 626-STAT GO GOPHERS!