Going for the Gold

Ruggiero was hardly the only member of the U.S. National Team that needed to make sacrifices in order to train full-time.

"A.J. Mleczko ['99] got married four days before camp started," Ruggiero said. "She missed the first week of camp for her honeymoon. There are three high school kids here, and they're submitting their work over the computer."

Ruggiero certainly understands the experience of being part of the National Team in high school. While a student at Choate Rosemary Hall in Connecticut, she started playing internationally when she was only 15. She was 18 years old when she won her Gold Medal with the U.S. team in the 1998 Nagano Olympics.

"At Choate in '98, we had trimesters, and I just missed the first two trimesters and came back for the third," Ruggiero said. "We didn't really have to make sacrifices. I just took extra classes at Choate to make up for it."

United by a shared sense of commitment and sacrifice, the U.S National Team is fully dedicated towards bringing home another gold medal. Although the U.S. National Team is the defending Olympic champion, it is not the favorite by any stretch. The Canadians have won just about every other international competition to date, including all six International Ice Hockey Federation World Championships.

In the 2000 final at Mississauga, Ontario, the United States blew a 2-0 third period lead and fell 3-2 in overtime [with Botterill assisting on the first Canadian goal]. Finland also had its most competitive tournament ever, coming within a goal of both the Canadians and the Americans. In other words, the U.S. National Team has plenty of work to do.