Harvard Well-Represented at U.S. Festival

Anna McDonald (l) and Cori Bassett. Photos by DSPics.com

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- Five players with Harvard ties are among the 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.

Current Crimson junior defensemen Cori Bassett (Anchorage, Alaska) and junior forward Anna McDonald (New Brighton, Minn.), along with former Harvard standouts Caitlin Cahow (Branford, Conn.), Julie Chu (Fairfield, Conn.) and Angela Ruggiero (Harper Woods, Mich.) will be participating at the festival.

Click here for complete roster as PDF

Bassett played in all 34 games for the Crimson in 2007-08, scoring three goals and assisting on three other tallies, while McDonald had seven goals and eight assists for 15 points in 33 contests.

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 forward Maggie Kennedy (West Hartford, Conn./Dartmouth College). The squad boasts a pair of three-time Olympians in forward Jenny Potter (Edina, Minn.) and defenseman Ruggiero.

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.