Gophers women's hockey forward Amanda Kessel and defender Megan Bozek were named to the U.S. national team and will compete in the 2012 Four Nations Cup from Nov. 5-10.
"Every opportunity I get to play with the national team, it is awesome," Kessel told GopherSports.com. "It is just an honor to skate on the ice with the nation's best."
The pair will be joined by former Gophers players Gigi Marvin, Sarah Erickson and Anne Schleper on the 23-player roster. The latter two played with Kessel and Bozek on the 2011-12 national championship team.
"It is nice to not be done playing with them yet. It will also be a good time, and I am honored to join these four other girls in not only representing Minnesota but our country as well," Bozek told GopherSports.com.
Bozek and Kessel will miss training camp to play in Minnesota's Nov. 2-3 series against Minnesota-Duluth, but they will meet up with the national team in Finland.
The Four Nations Cup is an annual tournament between the U.S., Canada, Sweden and Finland. It is a single round-robin, and the top two teams advance to the gold medal game. The Gophers do not play from Nov. 3-16, so the pair will not miss any games. The U.S. national team begins play against Sweden on Nov. 6.
