Howser Earns Spot on U.S. Under-22 Select Team

NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- Yale senior forward Crysti Howser (Wilmette, Ill.) was named to USA Hockey's Women's Under-22 Select Team Thursday morning. Howser earned a spot on the roster following a week-long camp at the Olympic Training Center in Lake Placid. The 22 players chosen to the U.S. Under-22 Select Team will go back to Lake Placid Aug. 12 for the USA Hockey Women's National Festival, then will play for the U.S. in the Under-22 Series against Canada in Pierrefonds, Que., Aug. 20-23.

Howser, who turns 21 in August, is one of 13 forwards on the roster. She was on the U.S. Under-22 Select Team for the three-game series against Canada last year after placing fifth in scoring at the 2007 U.S. Women's National Festival. Howser's previous experience with USA Hockey included a stint at the 2006 National Festival. She also participated in USA Hockey's Girls' Select 17/18 Festival in 2005, tying for the scoring lead with four goals and three assists in five games.
 
Howser has led Yale in points in each of her first three years, and the 22 goals she scored in 2006-07 place her tied for third on Yale's single-season list. She is tied for fourth on Yale's career goals list (44), is seventh on Yale's career points list (92) and is tied for eight on Yale's career assists list (48). She was an honorable mention All-Ivy selection last year.
 
A graduate of New Trier Township High, Howser is a political science major in Silliman College at Yale. She played for Assabet Valley prior to coming to Yale.
 
There were 38 players vying for 22 spots on the U.S. Under-22 team. Yale, which also had rising sophomore goalie Jackee Snikeris (Downingtown, Pa.) at the Under-22 camp, was one of only eight schools in the country to have multiple players selected for the camp. The final roster includes nine members of the U.S. Women's National Team that captured the gold medal at the recently completed 2008 International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) World Women's Championship.
 
Yale has an extensive history with U.S. women's national teams. Rising senior defenseman Helen Resor (Greenwich, Conn.), who was on the U.S. Under-22 Select Team from 2003-2005, played for the U.S. in the 2006 Olympics and has also played for the U.S. in two IIHF World Women's Championships. Yale head coach Hilary Witt played on the U.S. National Team in 2000-01 and was an assistant coach with the U.S. team in 2006-07. Former Yale men's hockey assistant coach Ben Smith coached Team USA at the Olympics three times, winning a gold medal in 1998, and now serves as a national team advisor.