By Tom Mix
NDHSAA Media Specialist
VALLEY CITY, N.D. – Britta Curl is headed to Beijing China to compete on the United States Women’s Hockey Team.
Sunday, February 6 media reports confirmed that Curl, a 2018 Bismarck St. Mary’s Central High School graduate, has been added to Team USA as an injury replacement for Brianna Decker.
Curl was one of the final cuts made by USA Hockey last year in preparation for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, which began earlier this month.
Curl is in Los Angeles Sunday for COVID testing with plans to leave for China on Tuesday. Team USA will play in the quarterfinals of the Olympic hockey tournament on Thursday or Friday.
Team USA is 3-0 in preliminary play thus far and will play Team Canada this week.
Curl played her entire prep hockey career in North Dakota. In five seasons with the Bismarck Blizzard, Curl scored 189 goals and 116 assists. She was a part of four NDHSAA state championships with Bismarck. During her senior season as a prep, Curl won a gold medal with the Under-18 Women’s National Team at the World Championships in Russia.
Following her standout prep career, Curl joined the University of Wisconsin women’s hockey team and helped the Badgers win two NCAA Division I National Championships in 2019 and 2021. In late March of 2021 Curl was named to the 2021 United States Women’s National Hockey Team to compete in the 2021 International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) Women’s World Championships in Calgary. The Tournament was played in the summer and Curl scored a goal in the three games she played. The United States lost the gold medal game to Canada in overtime.
Prior to Sunday’s announcement, Curl was a member of the US residency program bypassing her junior year at the University of Wisconsin to train and play with Team USA.
Curl becomes the third North Dakota woman to play for Team USA's women's hockey Olympic team joining the Lamoureux twins, Monique and Jocelyne, who won three medals from 2010-18, including the gold in 2018.
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