By Emily McCarthy, News Staff

As a member of the Northeastern women’s hockey team, Kendall Coyne is used to hearing her name announced to fans in the Doghouse. But during the second intermission of the 2014 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic on New Year’s Day, Coyne stood before 105,000 fans in “The Big House” as she was officially introduced as a member of the United States women’s Olympic hockey team.

“Obviously it’s an honor and I’m so blessed to be American,” Coyne said. “It’s an honor to represent our country playing the sport I love.”

Coyne, a junior forward who has tallied 63 goals in two seasons at Northeastern, has been practicing with Team USA full-time since August. She said the team found out who was on the Olympic roster on Dec. 20 but had to wait to tell anyone until the official announcement was made at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, Mich. on Jan. 1.

“It was tough to keep it a secret, especially from my family at Christmas,” Coyne said.

Although she knew she was already on the team ahead of time, Coyne said it was still overwhelming to be announced in front of the massive crowd at the Winter Classic. She also said that since the announcement was made, she has received an outpouring of support from friends and family at home as well as from the Northeastern community.

“I even got to know Steve Langton, the [US Olympic] bobsledder who graduated from Northeastern,” she said.

In just two years on Huntington Avenue, Coyne has garnered numerous accolades and has helped the Huskies win back-to-back Beanpot tournaments. Last season she was named the 2013 Beanpot Most Valuable Player and was a New England Women’s Division I All-Star. Coyne was named to the women’s Hockey East All-Tournament team and was a WHEA First-Team All-Star last season as well.

Coyne, a communications major, also excels in the classroom and was named to the 2012-13 Hockey East All-Academic team.

Coyne, a Palos Heights, Ill. native, is very humble when it comes to her accomplishments, including her selection as a member of Team USA.

“It’s just unbelievable to practice with the top 21 females in the country,” she said. “My personal goal is to be the best teammate I can be.”

The 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia will kick off on Feb. 7 with the opening ceremonies. The US women’s hockey team will play their first game on Feb. 8 against Finland as part of Group A

preliminary play. Coyne will wear No. 26 for Team USA although she normally sports No. 77 for the Huskies.

While her focus is bringing home a gold medal with the red,white and blue, Coyne said she still misses the red and black from time.

“I definitely miss my teammates,” she said. “I don’t miss the school aspect because here we can just give all our focus to hockey, but I miss the school pride.”