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Woken Living Her Dream at Minnesota, Team USA

By Dan Scifo - Special to USA Hockey, 10/17/16, 3:15PM MDT

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Freshman Forward Continues to Improve At Every Level, Earn Her Opportunities

Alex Woken is living her childhood dream.

After an illustrious career at Shattuck St. Mary’s School in Faribault, Minnesota, and increasing opportunities with the USA Hockey’s women’s program, she now transitions to the college game.

And Woken is right where she always wanted to be: a freshman at the University of Minnesota.

“It’s always been kind of a dream to come here and it’s pretty surreal knowing that I’m here, actually living out my that dream,” Woken said.

Woken, a native of Fargo, North Dakota, always cheered for Minnesota because her father Scott works within the North Dakota State University athletic department.

“NDSU didn’t have hockey, but they have a really big rivalry in football, and I always kind of cheered for the other team,” Woken said.

“[Minnesota] has always been such a good program, with a great the campus, which I like and it’s right in the city. The culture around the team is great.”

Woken is currently making the transition at Minnesota, getting used to not just classes and the work that goes with them, but also the beginning of her college hockey career, including the speed of the game and jelling with her new teammates.

Woken, a neuroscience major who hopes to possibly attend medical or veterinarian school, took classes during the summer and also joined the team.

“It was really nice just to kind of slowly go into college and get a couple classes under my belt,” Woken said. “It was a lot of fun to skate a little bit and hang out with the team. Just practicing every day with coaches and players has been really fun.”

Woken, a Second Team All-American in 2015, won two national championships at Shattuck St. Mary’s and finished her high school career with 103 goals and 188 points in 164 games. She also captured gold medals in 2015 and 2016 as a member of the U.S. Women’s National Under-18 Team during the IIHF Under-18 Women’s World Championship, adding to her highly decorated career.

She hopes for even more at the college level.

“It has been such an honor to be able to win national championships with Shattuck and win back-to-back world championships with the Under-18 team,” Woken said. “It has been amazing, but moving onto the college level is a totally different challenge.

“Just because the teams I’ve been on have been able to win, doesn’t mean it’s going to translate. I hope those wins give me experience to take into the college level to try and help the team as best I can.”

Woken, who continues to take great strides in her game at the international level, also gained valuable experience as a member of the 2016 U.S. Women’s Under-22 Select Team in a three-game series against Canada in August. There were several members of the National Team, as well as a large number of Olympians at the camp, which really helped Woken put into perspective how good women’s hockey is at this level. 

“I was able to play with a lot of Olympians, which was an amazing experience,” Woken said. “Going through camp, I knew I was young, and making the select team would be amazing, but if I didn’t, I knew it wasn’t the end of the world. I still really wanted to make the team.

“Cuts came around, and I was fortunate enough to make the team. It was an extremely fun event, and a real eye-opening experience that I learned so much from.”

College has been the same for Woken, but she isn’t alone. Woken is making the transition with Patti Marshall, her best friend and long-time teammate as the two played together at Shattuck St. Mary’s and on several USA Hockey teams.

“I’ve known Patti for probably 10 years now,” Woken said. “We grew up two hours away from each other and we’ve been playing on teams together since we were young.

“It makes the transition so much easier, just having your best friend by your side, going to each other with difficulties and also pushing each other to the next level. Getting better every day with her is really comforting and has made the transition so much easier and the experience so much better.”

Story from Red Line Editorial, Inc.


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