Minnesota Duluth co-captain Sydney Brodt will fulfill a lifelong goal next month when she suits up for the U.S. Women's National Team at the Four Nations Cup on Nov. 6-10 in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.
Named to the senior team last Friday after trying out over the summer in Lake Placid, N.Y., she still can't believe this is all real.
"I don't think I will until I get there and am playing with the girls on the team," Brodt said this week during the News Tribune's Bulldog Insider podcast. "It's been a dream of mine to play on that team and make that team. It's surreal.
"It's pretty cool playing with them. They're my idols. It's going to be fun."
While Brodt may think the honor is surreal, her coach with the Bulldogs might disagree. Maura Crowell, who also coached Brodt on the 2016 U.S. Women's National Under-18 Team, has seen this moment coming for quite some time for her junior forward.
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Crowell said Brodt has always had speed. She "skates like the wind," the coach said. Now, though, Brodt also has the hands and the head to go with that speed.
"Syd had a really good summer. She always puts the work in on and off the ice. She's such a great leader by example that way," Crowell said. "I was in Lake Placid when she was in Lake Placid trying out for that team and I told her, 'Even at this level your speed stands out.' That's a really big deal. We talk about how she is probably one of the best skaters in all of NCAA hockey. That's a huge asset, but the complementary pieces that she is putting together now, too, in her game are pushing her and making people take notice."
Crowell said Brodt's ability to complement her teammates is also what stands out about the North Oaks, Minn., native. That was especially true a week ago during an eight-goal weekend for the Bulldogs against a Bemidji State squad that is known for its stinginess defensively. The Bulldogs swept the Beavers 6-2 and 8-0.
Brodt and sophomore linemates Naomi Rogge and Ashton Bell finished with a combined five goals and six assists. They now have seven goals between the three of them this season, putting them two back of the line of Ryleigh Houston, Gabbie Hughes and Anna Klein.
Crowell said it's important for both lines to score goals this season, and both have caught fire just in time. The Bulldogs head to St. Cloud State this weekend for a pair of WCHA contests at 6:07 p.m. Friday and 3:07 p.m. Saturday.
Like the Bulldogs with gold medalist Maddie Rooney, the Huskies also have an Olympian between the pipes in junior Janine Alder of Switzerland. Alder has split time in goal this year with sophomore Emma Polusny, who will be joining Brodt and Rooney on Team USA at the Four Nations Cup.
"Putting eight up on Bemidji is very difficult to do," Crowell said of the sweep of the Beavers. "It was nice to see the Rogge-Bell-Brodt line get in on the action. That just gives us more depth because the other line has been going. The more people we have putting the puck in the net, the better off we'll be. We're flying high right now."
• After missing Saturday's game against the Beavers, Crowell said she expects junior defenseman and co-captain Jalyn Elmes to be back in the lineup in St. Cloud. Senior forward and assistant captain Emma Yanko remains day-to-day having not played since the opening weekend of the regular season - Sept. 28-29 against Boston College. Sophomore defenseman McKenzie Revering is out.
