Press release provided by USA Hockey:

After a four month-long evaluation process during which the U.S. Women’s National Team centralized in Wesley Chapel, Florida, USA Hockey today unveiled the 23-player roster for the 2018 U.S. Olympic Women’s Ice Hockey Team that will compete this February at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in PyeongChang, South Korea.

Head coach Robb Stauber and four representatives of the team, including captain Meghan Duggan (Danvers, Mass.), alternate captains Kacey Bellamy (Westfield, Mass.) and Brianna Decker (Dousman, Wis.), and Kendall Coyne (Palos Heights, Ill.), were in attendance for the live reveal of the roster in the second intermission of the 2018 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic at Citi Field.

“Today we took another step toward achieving our ultimate goal, which is to bring home a gold medal from South Korea,” said Reagan Carey, general manager of the 2018 U.S. Olympic Women’s Ice Hockey Team and also the director of women’s hockey for USA Hockey, “We’ve had an exceptional four months in Wesley Chapel, Florida, leading up to this point and are confident that these 23 women give our country the best opportunity to reach the top of the podium in February.”

“The amount of skill and depth of talent on this roster is second-to-none and I couldn’t be more excited to see what these 23 women can do on the world stage in PyeongChang,” said Stauber, “With just a month to go until the Olympics, and now with our roster set, our focus only gets sharper. We’ll be ready to go.”

The roster contains a core of veterans, with 10 Olympians overall, six of whom competed at both the Vancouver 2010 and Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games – Bellamy, Duggan, Hilary Knight (Sun Valley, Idaho), Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson (Grand Forks, N.D.), Monique Lamoureux-Morando (Grand Forks, N.D.), Gigi Marvin(Warroad, Minn.) – and four that made their Olympic debut in Sochi – Coyne, Decker, Amanda Kessel (Madison, Wis.) and Lee Stecklein (Roseville, Minn.). Eight players in total have played more than 100 international games apiece wearing the USA sweater, including Bellamy (133), Coyne (115), Decker (110), Duggan (130), Knight (150), Lamoureux-Davidson (125), Lamoureux-Morando (122) and Marvin (115).

All 23 players on the roster have a collegiate hockey background, representing a total of nine NCAA schools. The University of Minnesota of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association leads the way with six representatives, followed by Boston College of the Hockey East Association (five) and the University of Wisconsin of the WCHA (four). The University of North Dakota and University of Minnesota Duluth (WCHA) are each represented by a pair of players, while Lindenwood University (CHA), Northeastern University (HEA), the University of New Hampshire (HEA) and the University of Vermont (HEA) have one apiece.

Fourteen of the 23 players on the final roster have been recognized as top-10 finishers for the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award, which annually recognizes the top NCAA Division I women’s college hockey player, and four have taken the trophy – Coyne (2016), Kessel (2013), Decker (2012), Duggan (2011).

With 18 post-graduate players and five collegiate players, the roster also features younger players in the prime of their collegiate career putting eligibility on hold to pursue their Olympic dream. Among them are Boston College players Cayla Barnes (Eastvale, Calif.), Kali Flanagan (Burlington, Mass.) and Megan Keller (Farmington, Mich.); the University of Minnesota’s Kelly Pannek (Plymouth, Minn.); and the University of Minnesota Duluth’s Maddie Rooney(Andover, Minn.).

During the 2016-17 season, 14 players on the U.S. roster were playing professionally in the United States, nine in the National Women’s Hockey League and five with the Minnesota Whitecaps. Sidney Morin (Minnetonka, Minn.) played a portion of the 2017-18 season with MODO Hockey of the Swedish Women’s Hockey League before joining the U.S. Olympic evaluation process.

The 2018 Olympic Winter Games will take place Feb. 9-25 in PyeongChang, South Korea. The U.S. Olympic Women’s Ice Hockey Team will begin its quest for a gold medal on Feb. 11 when it faces Finland in its opening game of preliminary round play.

FULL ROSTER: