The Winter Olympics are set to begin in Italy this week, and Team USA Women’s Hockey plays their first match against Czechia (CHECK-E-UH) today in the preliminary round.
With a loaded roster of the nation’s best female hockey players, Illinois boasts three state natives on the roster.
There is current University of Minnesota forward Abbey Murphy, originally of Evergreen Park. Murphy is in the top five for career goals scored for women’s hockey at the University of Minnesota.
Hailing originally from Stephenson County village of Orangeville is 21-year-old Forward Tessa Janecke. Janecke is a member of the Penn St. Nittany Lions and holds the record for career points scored for both men’s and women’s hockey at the school. Janecke also scored the game winning goal for Team USA in the 2025 IIHF Women's World Championship Gold Medal game against Canada.
And of course, we cannot forget one of the fastest skaters in the game, Kendall Coyne Schofield. Coyne Schofield, a graduate from Sandburg High School in Orland Park, was the first woman to compete in the NHL All-Star Skills Competition, in 2019, posting a time of 14.326 seconds in the fastest skater event.
Coyne Schofield also was hired in 2020 as the Chicago Blackhawks first female player development coach, working with their American Hockey League affiliate, the Rockford Ice Hogs.
Team USA Women’s Hockey hopes to improve on their silver medal finish from the 2022 games in Beijing and bring home the team's third gold medal, the last of which was from 2018 at the Winter Games in PyeongChang, South Korea.
Although there is plenty on the line, Tessa Janecke said Team USA can manage the pressure.
“I feel like you just need to not play outside of yourself,” she said. “It is the Olympics, which is the biggest tournament. Just knowing who you are as a player and playing within that realm and being confident about that. That is why you were selected to play in the Olympics.”
And even though they are thousands of miles away, Janecke thinks Illinois will be all in for supporting Women’s Hockey at the Winter Olympics.
“I feel like a lot of people from my hometown will be watching," she said. "I have always had a lot of support there. Being from a small town, everyone knows everyone. I would assume people will be watching.”
Team USA women’s hockey will play their second preliminary game against Finland on Saturday.
