USA Hockey announced today that Joel Johnson (White Bear Lake, Minn.), associate head coach of the University of Minnesota women's ice hockey team, has been named head coach of the U.S. Women's National Under-18 Team for the 2015-16 season. Joining him as assistant coaches will be Katie Lachapelle (Winthrop, Mass.), assistant women's ice hockey coach at Boston University, and Maura Crowell (Mansfield, Mass.), head women's ice hockey coach at the University of Minnesota-Duluth.

“Joel was instrumental in last season's success and has played an important role in the development of our players,” said Reagan Carey, director of women’s hockey at USA Hockey. “Along with Katie and Maura, we look forward to the contributions of this coaching staff as they help our players reach their highest potential."

The trio will lead the U.S. Women's National Under-18 Team at the 2015 Women's Under-18 Series against Canada in Lake Placid, New York, from August 20-23, and at the International Ice Hockey Federation Under-18 Women's World Championship that is anticipated to take place in the Canada in the early part of 2016.

ABOUT JOHNSON

Johnson is serving as head coach of the U.S. Women's National Under-18 Team for the second consecutive season after leading Team USA to the gold medal at the 2015 IIHF Under-18 Women's World Championship in Buffalo, New York. Johnson has additional experience with USA Hockey as a member of the coaching staff for the 2012 IIHF Under-18 Women's World Championship and a pair of Women's Under-18 Series (2013-14). He has also served as a coach at various U.S. Women's Select Festivals.

"I thoroughly enjoyed working with Team USA last season and I look forward to once again serving as the head coach of the U.S. Women's National Under-18 Team," said Johnson. "As a coaching staff, we look forward to representing USA Hockey and working with the players to achieve success during the upcoming season."

Johnson completed his 10th season as an assistant coach at the University of Minnesota in 2014-15, helping lead the women’s hockey team to the national championship in its fourth-straight appearance in the championship game.

During two stints, Johnson has been a part of five national titles (2000, 2004, 2012-13, 2015) with the Golden Gophers. He originally served as an assistant coach from 1999-2004 and returned to the University of Minnesota in the same capacity in 2010-11 after a six-year hiatus.

Johnson also spent six seasons coaching at Bethel University from 2004-10, including three years as the men's hockey head coach. Along with his men's hockey responsibilities, he was also the men's and women's golf coach and prior to that was the soccer coach where he earned MIAC Coach of the Year honors.

ABOUT LACHAPELLE

Lachapelle will be returning for her third consecutive stint as an assistant coach with the 2015 U.S. Women's National Under-18 Team. She has also has coached at USA Hockey camps for the previous six summers, helping at various Girls' Select 14, 15 and 16 Player Development Camps. Lachapelle has been an assistant women's ice hockey coach at Boston University since 2008, after stints at Ohio State, Niagara and Union, and received the 2013 Women's Ice Hockey Assistant Coach Award from the American Hockey Coaches Association. She has helped BU to five Hockey East titles and five NCAA tournament appearances, including a trip to the 2011 and 2013 national title games. As a player at Providence College, Lachapelle was a team captain, earned All-ECAC honorable mention recognition and was named to the 1997 ECAC All-Star Team.

ABOUT CROWELL

Crowell will be making her Team USA coaching debut with the 2015 U.S. Women's National Under-18 Team after coaching at various USA Hockey development camps and festivals in recent years. She was appointed head coach of the women’s ice hockey team at the University of Minnesota-Duluth earlier this month after five years with Harvard University in various coaching capacities. Crowell joined the Crimson after a five-year stint as head coach at UMass Boston. She was named the 2009-10 Eastern College Athletic Conference East Women’s Ice Hockey Coach of the Year. Before her time at UMass Boston, Crowell spent two seasons as an assistant coach with Connecticut College and was an assistant coach with the hockey team and head coach of the junior varsity women’s lacrosse team at St. Mark’s School in Southborough, Mass. As a player, Crowell was a member of the Colgate women’s ice hockey team.

NOTES: Reagan Carey (Colorado Springs, Colo.), USA Hockey's director of women's hockey, is the general manager of the 2015-16 U.S. Under-18 Women's National Team ... Approximately 30 players will be invited to the U.S Women's National Under-18 Evaluation Camp August 10-19, in Lake Placid, New York. The camp will culminate with the selection of a 22-player roster that will represent the U.S. in a three-game series against Canada from August 20-23 in Lake Placid New York ... The IIHF Under-18 Women's World Championship is scheduled to be played for the ninth time and will include teams from Canada, the Czech Republic, Finland, France, Russia, Sweden, Switzerland and the United States. The dates and location of the tournament will be announced in the near future. Team USA, the reigning world champion, captured gold in each of the first two years of the tournament (2008, 2009) and again in 2011 and 2015 ... The team has taken home the silver medal in 2010, 2012, 2013 and 2014.