Day Five - Feb. 7

After an off-day yesterday, today was a very busy day for the U.S. women. It started out with official team portraits at the rink, then a full practice with off-ice work included, and then a team trip to the Main Press Center in the mountain cluster for a pre-tournament press conference.

TEAM PHOTOS
The U.S. women entered their locker room this morning and saw their Olympic jerseys hanging in each of their stalls for the first time. It was an incredible moment – goaltender Maddie Rooney (Andover, Minn.) reacted:

“Walking in and seeing my jersey for the first time with my teammates was such an unreal moment for me. I grew up dreaming of this moment, and to hear all the excitement in the room and to see them all hanging up – it was just an unexplainable moment.”

Photo day kicked off with official team headshots of players in their white Olympic jerseys, and then players took to the ice for a team portrait as well as a series of group photos. There was even time to take a few selfies with volunteers.

TREK TO THE MOUNTAINS
It took about 35-40 minutes to ride from the Gangneung coastal village up to the mountain cluster, where the U.S. women held its pre-Games press conference this afternoon. On the ride up, the team got a glimpse of the ski jump and some of the trails on the mountainside.

The press conference consisted of an on-stage portion with team GM Reagan Carey and coach Robb Stauber, as well as captain Meghan Duggan (Danvers, Mass.), and alternate captains Kacey Bellamy (Westfield, Mass.) and Brianna Decker (Dousman, Wis.). After, each of the 23 players on the team took part in breakout-style scrum interviews.