 |
 Molly Schaus tending goal at the National Festival in August. (Courtesy of USA Hockey) |
 |
Women's Ice Hockey's Stack and Schaus Talk about Their Gold Medal Experience
April 22, 2008
Sophomores Kelli Stack and Molly Schaus were part of the Women's National Team that won the gold medal at the 2008 International Ice Hockey Federation Women's World Championship in
What was your first reaction when you found out you made the National Team? What was the first thing you did?
Kelli: Disbelief. I could not believe I had made it. It was really nerve racking because they call the names of the people who don't make it, so I when I finally didn't hear my name, I was so excited. It's the best thing that has ever happened to me in hockey. We had to head right to the rink, so I sent a mass text message to all my friends and family and we called Kinger [Head Coach Katie King] and Courtney {Assistant Coach Courtney Kennedy] in the car.
Molly: It definitely took a while to set in. I was disbelief. They call the goalie's name first, so when I didn't hear my name, I stopped listening. I was so happy. It wasn't until we were on the way to the rink I really thought about how I had made the team. It was shocking and exciting. I texted my family too and we talked to the coaches. They were so excited and happy for us.
Can you describe winning the gold medal? How does it feel to be only two of 34 players to ever do that for
Molly: I don't think words can describe it. Just watching the final seconds tick off and the puck finally getting cleared - we were on the penalty kill - you just can't explain it. It was pure excitement. Looking back, it's been less than a week, and I just can't get out of my mind how much fun it was and how exciting it was.
Kelli: You pretty much can't describe it in words. I remember the last five minutes of the game and the score was 4-3, and thinking, `If we didn't win, how did we let a 4-1 lead go down the drain?' But I knew we were going to win and I know that everyone was going to work as hard as they possibly could to make sure we did win. So when we finally did, it was the best feeling I've ever had. Everyone was so happy and nobody can ever take that away from us. No one can say that it was a fluke because we beat [
Molly: It wasn't so much winning the gold medal, entirely, as we had just beaten Canada and we could celebrate as a team about our success that we had come together to do. It wasn't even about wining the tournament; we beat
Kelli, can you describe your first
Well, I probably should have scored before that goal, because I had a bunch of chances, but I had to get one game under my belt before I could really get comfortable. It wasn't against a great team, but it was against a good goalie, so I felt good about it. I remember in the locker room in between periods - it was 1-0 - and our coach told us we were getting a bunch of shots but we needed to shoot high blocker on this goalie. So when we went out for the second period, I got a point-blank pass in the slot and I didn't even think about it or try to shoot it there, but it went directly high blocker and went in. I thought, [coach] knows what she's talking about, but I was really happy and everyone on the team was really happy for me.
Molly, can you describe your playing time in net against
It was really fun; I enjoyed it. We were playing
What was your favorite part of the trip to
Kelli: Definitely the celebration after we won. Everyone was so happy: coaches, parents, players. Everyone was there celebrating at the hotel and then we went to a club and had a good time. We hung out with other teams there too, so it was just really fun.
Molly: I think it was pretty obvious that the celebration was the best part, but I think it was really fun for the 20 of us to be over there together. There wasn't much to do but hang out with each other, so we became really close. I have a lot of good memories that will last a lifetime.
What does it meant to you to represent the
Kelli: I would love to represent the
Molly: It was an unbelievable honor to go to
Did your coaches, Katie King and Courtney Kennedy, give you any advice as they played on the 2005 World Championship team?
Molly: I remember them saying to enjoy it and we deserve to be there; to soak it all up because it's a great experience. When we got back, we talked to them for a couple hours and shared stories. They went over to
Kelli: They gave us advice about traveling and stuff like that, but they also told us to be confident because we deserve to be there. Everyone knows that so do your thing and play like you play and everything will be fine.
How did it feel to be teammates with some of the players you looked up to or grew up watching?
Molly: We played with that in August [at USA Hockey's National Festival] but this was the first time we were actually teammates with them. I would say the first couple of days, I would stop myself and think, `Wow, Natalie Darwitz just scored on me.' Or `I just stopped Angela [Ruggiero's] shot,' but once you played with them and they are your teammates, they become hockey players who just love the game. They have so much passion and you can just feed off them. While we realize they are unbelievable hockey players and people, they are our teammates and we're friends with them. They respect us just as much as we respect them, which is hard to believe sometimes. It was pretty cool to play along side of them.
Kelli: They are pretty cool people and I was very nervous and shy around them at first, but after a few days into the trip they were just regular friends. It didn't matter if they were older, still in college or younger, we were all there for the same reason and we had the same goal. It made things a lot easier knowing we were there for the same reason and we all wanted the same thing. Once I got to know them, it was so awesome and I didn't want to leave. I wanted to stay and hang out and get to know them better. Hopefully, I can still do that in the coming years.