The second round of games at the 2018 USA Hockey Girls 16/17 Player Development Camp were contested Tuesday, July 17, at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center in St. Cloud, Minnesota. Team Black opened the day with a 4-1 win over Team Gray. The other games included a 3-2 win for Team Navy over Team Gold, a 3-2 victory for Team Light Blue over Team Red and a 1-0 win in overtime for Team Royal over Team White.
The athletes will participate in practice sessions today before returning to game competition on the afternoon of Thursday, July 19. Today's schedule will include a player chalk talk, on-ice practice time, a mental skills seminar and a strength and conditioning session.
BACK HOME: Team Red intern coach Morgan Illikainen is enjoying a homecoming of sorts this weekend with some time in Minnesota. Illikainen, who is in her second season as an assistant coach at Dartmouth College, grew up in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, and played prep hockey for Grand Rapids/Greenway. She went on to play college hockey at Dartmouth, registering seven goals and 22 assists during her collegiate career from 2011-15. She served as a alternate captain for Dartmouth during her senior season. A defender, Illikainen also attended the USA Hockey 16 and 17 Player Development Camps during her playing days. Her sister, Molly, was a standout collegiate hockey player at Providence College and St. Cloud State University during her collegiate career, and prior to that, she helped the U.S. Under-18 Women's National Team win a silver medal at the 2012 IIHF Under-18 Women's World Championship. Their brother, Alex, played college basketball at the University of Wisconsin. The Illikainens' father, Darin, played college hockey at the University of Minnesota Duluth, serving as an alternate captain in 1987-88.
NEW HIRE: Team Royal Blue intern coach Katelyn Parker was recently named an assistant coach at the University of Connecticut. Parker worked the last two seasons as an assistant coach at Brown University. A 2016 graduate of Colgate University, Parker was a two-year captain for the Raiders.
STOP FORCE: The Team Royal Blue goalie tandem of Baleigh Shuck (Brooklyn Park, Minn.) and Hannah Turnage (White Lake, Mich.) combined for a 16-save shutout in their team’s 1-0 OT victory over Team White. The game-winning goal in the OT session was scored by Taylor Nelson (Carlton, Minn.). This was the second shutout of the camp in 2018. Fun fact: Turnage is a barefoot water skier.
LEADER OF THE PACK: Team Red’s Hannah Chorske (Edina, Minn.) owns the camp goal-scoring lead after two games with three goals. She charted a pair of goals in her team’s 3-2 loss to Team Light Blue on July 17. She is a the daughter of former NHLer and U.S. Men's National Team forward Tom Chorske.
POINT PARADE: Chorske is joined on the camp’s point-scoring leaderboard by Team Royal’s Celine Pietraszek (Colorado Springs, Colo.), Team Gold’s Jada Habisch (Buffalo, Minn.) and Team Royal’s Gabbie Smith (Brainerd, Minn.) with three points each. Fun fact: Pietraszek is bilingual and can speak Polish.
LETTERS FROM CAMP: Team Light Blue’s Alicia Souliotis (Acton, Mass.) is the younger sister of Mallory Souliotis, who played college hockey at Yale before signing to play pro hockey with the Boston Pride of the NWHL. Alicia also raises chinchillas ... Team Gray’s Sydney Wegner (Mount Dora, Fla.) is a talented musician, who can play the tuba, flute, saxophone and trumpet. In 2018, Wegner played for the Select Academy at Bishop Kearney in the USA Hockey’s Girls Tier I 16U national championship game against Chicago Mission … Team Red’s Sara Bayne (Ypsilanti, Mich.) lived in Sweden for three years of her life.