ANGOLA, Ind. – Two members of the Trine University men's hockey team will represent their countries at the 2023 Winter World University Games. Junior Elias Sandholm will suit up for his home country of Sweden while sophomore Kyle Watson will take the ice for Great Britain.
Watson, a forward, has taken the ice for the Thunder three times this season. The highlight of his year so far is a goal against Marian (Wis.) University at the beginning of December.
Sandholm has started two games in net for Trine while playing in three. He currently holds a record of 1-2 in those contests while recording a 3.79 goals-against average and a .813 save percentage.
This year's games are the 30th iteration of the event hosted by the International University Sports Federation (FISU). The university games are a multi winter sport event which is set to run from Thursday, January 12 through Sunday, January 22. Medals will be contested in 12 different sports including ice hockey.
The hockey competition begins the day before opening ceremonies. There are two pools of men's play. Sandholm and Sweden compete in Group A a pool of six including Canada, Czech Republic, Japan, Latvia and Ukraine. Their games will take place Canton, New York. Sweden's first game is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. on Thursday, January 12.
Watson and Great Britain compete in Group B which also includes Hungary, Kazakhstan, South Korea, Slovakia and the United States. The group will play its games in Potsdam, New York. Great Britain will face off with the United States in their first game which is scheduled for 8 p.m. on Wednesday, January 11.
The top two teams from each pool will advance to the semi-final round with games moving to Lake Placid, New York, the official host city of the games. The gold medal match which will be played in the Herb Brooks Arena is set to air on live on ESPN.