NT_040419

38 | April 4, 2019 | The Northbrook tower sports
northbrooktower.com
Compher ready to
make national debut
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Northbrook native Jesse Compher will represent the
United States at the 2019 International Ice Hockey
Federation Women’s World Championship in Espoo,
Finland. Rich Gagnon/Boston University Athletics
Jesse Compher got the
news she’s been waiting
for her entire life in the
most fitting way: heading
to practice.
The Northbrook native
received a phone call from
the United States Women’s
National hockey team
head coach Bob Corkum
letting Compher know
she made the roster for
the 2019 International Ice
Hockey Federation Women’s
World Championship
from Thursday, April 4, to
14 at the Metro Areena in
Espoo, Finland.
Compher couldn’t hold
in the excitement when she
got the news; her dreams
had come true earlier than
she expected.
“I dreamed about it as a
kid but I never knew how
real it could be,” Compher
said. “Growing up and going
to the U-18 team, it became
a little bit real. The
national team seemed so
far for me. I didn’t think it
was going to happen this
soon, I’m excited for it.”
She texted her family
right away when she got
the news and limited to
telling just her family before
the official announcement
came out.
The moment came as
a surprise of how soon it
happened, but not that it
happened. The Northbrook
native is a two-time gold
medalist with the U.S. Under-18
Team at the IIHF
Women’s World Championship,
helping Team
USA win gold in 2016 and
2017.
But the roster announcement
marked her debut for
the national team, which
is something Compher
noted as something that
helped honor the worked
Compher has put in to her
game.
“It’s just nice to see
people are realizing how
much work I put to go all
over the world to do this,”
Compher said. “So to be
able to get rewarded for it,
I feel really lucky.”
Seventeen of the 23
players on the roster have
Olympic experience, 14
of which helped the U.S.
claim gold at the 2018
Olympic Winter Games
in PyeongChang while
14 members of the U.S.
team that claimed gold at
the 2017 IIHF Women’s
World Championship in
Plymouth, Mich., return to
defend the title this year in
Espoo.
Compher will have the
chance to play with players
she grew up idolizing.
She’ll play with Kendall
Coybe and Hillary Knight
on this roster, both of
which have helped inspire
hockey players across the
nation.
“I think that at first I’ll
be a little star-struck, but
once the game goes on, I‘ll
get into it,” Compher said.
The players will meet in
Long Island, New York,
for a training camp before
they travel to Finland for
the tournament. They’ve
been in contact with each
other through email and
text messages, but it’ll
be good to get together
to become familiar with
how each player prefers to
compete.
Compher’s parents will
also make the trip over
to support her during the
games. While she has
some nerves heading into
the experience, Compher
knows she’ll be ready for
whatever she faces.
“I think I’m just going
to work out, skate and be
in the best shape that I can
be, so that when I do get
there, I can be there in any
way possible,” Compher
said. “The nerves have
been a good motivation.”