Anastos, Padalis, Shaw to play on U.S. Women’s U18 team this weekend

By Stefan Kubus –

A trio of under-18 women are heading to Minnesota to compete for Team USA against our rivals north of the border.

USA Hockey named its 22-player U.S. National Women’s Under-18 Team roster that will compete against Canada in a three-game series on Aug. 16-19 at the National Sports Center’s Schwan Super Rink in Minnesota.

Alexis Shaw (Troy), Kirsten Padalis (Farmington Hills), and Andrea Anastos (Farmington Hills) will all be representing the Mitten for the Red, White, and Blue this upcoming weekend.

In addition to the Michigan natives, there are four players from the U.S. Women’s National Under-18 Team that brought home the silver medal at the 2012 International Ice Hockey Federation U18 Women’s World Championship who will be participating in this weekend’s series.

But perhaps most interesting is that Jincy Dunne (Illinois) comes in as the youngest player on the team, barely at 15 years old (15 years and 3 months), competing on a national under-18 stage.

This will be the sixth time this series has been played between these two rival nations, with the U.S. slightly edging Canada, 7-6-2.

In case you happen to be in the area, all the games are open to the public with free admission, but if you want to watch from home, FASTHockey.com will be carrying the games live.