University of Minnesota Athletics
Four Gophers to Compete for U.S. National Team
3/26/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Hockey
The U.S. squad was selected following a 32-player tryout camp held at the Olympic Center in Lake Placid, N.Y. Team USA will train in Lake Placid until departing on Monday (March 30) for Finland. The United States roster is filled with three goaltenders, seven defensemen and 11 forwards. A total of 18 of the players have previously competed in an IIHF World Women's Championship, all having been gold-medal winners in either 2005 or 2008. Sixteen of the 20 members of the world champion 2008 U.S. Women's National Team return to the 2009 tournament. On the 21-player roster, 12 players hail from the Western Collegiate Hockey Association conference.
As a freshman, Jocelyne Lamoureux was a First-Team All-WCHA and WCHA All-Rookie Team honoree and ranked second on the team in points (65), goals (28) and assists (37). A Patty Kazmaier nominee, Jocelyne ranked 11th in the nation in points per game (1.62), ninth in assists per game (0.93) and 15th overall in goals per game (0.70). In her 40 games with the Maroon and Gold, Jocelyne had 20 multiple-point games, 10 multiple assist games and eight multiple-goal games as her team went 24-3-2 when she scored a point and 16-1-1 when scoring a goal. In conference games alone, she had 49 points, ranking third in the WCHA in points and assists (26) and goals (24). Named to the WCHA All-Tournament Team, Jocelyne had four points in the WCHA FINAL FACEOFF earlier this month.
Monique Lamoureux was the only freshman as a Patty Kazmaier top-10 finalist. Named to the First-Team All-WCHA, she was also the WCHA Rookie of the Year and a WCHA All-Rookie Team honoree. Monique was the first Minnesota player since 2005 to have over 60 points in a single season, leading the team with 39 goals and 36 assists for 75 points. The WCHA scoring champion with 61 points in conference play, she led every scoring category in points (61), goals (30) and assists (31). Nationally, she ranked fifth in the nation in points per game (1.88), fourth in goals per game (0.97) and 11th in assists per game (0.90). She was named the WCHA Offensive Player of the Week twice and the WCHA Rookie of the Week four times, a conference high. Throughout the course of the year, she scored in 34 of the Gophers’ 40 games and had 42 points in the second half of the season.
Gigi Marvin finished her Gopher career with 195 career points, ranking sixth overall in school history. A team co-captain this year, Marvin led the Gophers to their first NCAA Frozen Four appearance since 2006. A Patty Kazmaier top-10 finalist, Marvin was also named the WCHA Outstanding Student-Athlete of the Year, Minnesota’s first honor since 2000. A Second-Team All-WCHA honoree, Marvin ranked third on the team in scoring with 65 points, including six points in NCAA competition and four points in post-season conference action. Of her 65 points, she led the Gophers with 21 power-play points. Marvin will graduate in four years this spring with a bachelor of arts degree in communication studies and a minor in mass communications and was named a WCHA Scholar Athlete and an Academic All-WCHA selection in her senior campaign.
Natalie Darwitz joined the Gopher coaching staff in August after an illustrious career with the Maroon and Gold from 2002-05. In 99 games played, the three-time, first-team All-American set the school record in career points with 246. The U.S. Team captain, Darwitz is a two-time Olympian and a seven-time member of the U.S. National Team.
