Festival Features Dartmouth Duo

Maggie Kennedy (l) and Sarah Parsons

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- Dartmouth forwards Maggie Kennedy (West Hartford, Conn.) and Sarah Parsons (Dover, Mass.) are among 64 players selected to participate in the 2008 USA Hockey Women's National Festival, which will take place August 12-23 in Lake Placid, N.Y., USA Hockey today announced. The Festival participants will be divided into three teams (Red/Over-22, White/Under-18 and Blue/Under-22) for daily practices and games.

Kennedy led the Big Green in scoring in 2007-08, amassing 16 goals and 23 assists in 33 contests. She tallied five power-play goals, along with one shorthanded and one game-winning goal. Kennedy also led the squad in scoring in League play, compiling 14 goals and 14 assists in 22 games.

Parsons was a member of the 2008 U.S. Women's National Team that captured gold at the International Ice Hockey Federation World Women's Championship in April.

Parsons skated in 31 games with the Big Green in 2007-08. She was third on the team in scoring with 34 points, including a career-high 15 goals. Parsons finished the season on a 12-game point streak, in which she tallied 18 points with eight goals and 10 helpers.

Team White is comprised of the players who will go on to represent the United States as part of the U.S. Women's Under-18 Select Team during a three-game series with Canada in Lake Placid (August 20-23). While the roster for Team White includes 20 skaters and three goalies, only two netminders will go on to compete in the Women's Under-18 Series.

The Under-18 squad is highlighted by seven members of the U.S. Women's National Under-18 Team that captured the gold medal at the 2008 International Ice Hockey Federation World Women's U18 Championship. Those players include defensemen Blake Bolden (Stow, Ohio) and Alev Kelter (Eagle River, Alaska); and forwards Kendall Coyne (Palos Heights, Ill.), Brianna Decker (Dousman, Wis.), Amanda Kessel (Madison, Wis.), Meagan Mangene (Manorville, N.Y.) and Madison Packer (Birmingham, Mich.).

Included on Team Red are 16 of the 17 members of USA Hockey's new women's residency program for post-NCAA players in Blaine, Minn., set to begin in September. The red squad also includes three who are still playing NCAA Division I hockey - goaltender Jessie Vetter (Cottage Grove, Wis./University of Wisconsin), defenseman Rachael Drazan (Orono, Minn./Univ. of Minnesota) and Kennedy (West Hartford, Conn./Dartmouth College). The squad boasts a pair of three-time Olympians in forward Jenny Potter (Edina, Minn.) and defenseman Angela Ruggiero (Harper Woods, Mich.).

Meanwhile, Team Blue is made up of the previously announced 22-player U.S. Women's Under-22 Select Team. The team will depart Lake Placid on Monday, August 18, to travel to Pierrefonds, Que., for the Women's Under-22 Series against Canada.