Stevenson grad Bozek hits the big-time

Megan Bozek was 4, the lone girl on a boys hockey team in Glenview during the 1997-98 season, yet no one volunteered to be the goalie.

So she raised her hand.

She thus became the team’s goalie and admittedly was thrilled that she got a new glove for the position.

“I liked (playing goalie) for, oh, the first two weeks, and then that dream was long gone. I think my parents were happy about that, too,” Bozek said, laughing.

Bozek, now 20, has transitioned into a defenseman — and without question one of the best at that position in women’s college hockey. She is a junior at the University of Minnesota, where the Golden Gophers are ranked No. 2 in the nation, and she is the No. 1 scorer among defensemen (9 goals, 15 assists in 20 games played).

Minnesota (17-3 overall) returns to the ice Jan. 6-7 for a pair of games against the No. 1-ranked Wisconsin Badgers.

“My dream was to play in college,” said Bozek, whose youth hockey career has included stints with Glenview, Team Illinois boys, Team Illinois girls (starting in eighth grade), and the Chicago Mission as a junior and senior at Stevenson. She also played for the co-op Glenbrook girls high school team as a freshman and sophomore, along with teammates from Glenbrook North, Glenbrook South and Buffalo Grove. The Glenbrook group won the state championship at the United Center in 2008.

Bozek graduated from Stevenson in 2009.

“Once I got older and realized that there was an Olympic team and started following it, that’s when I changed my dream to becoming an Olympian; that probably was when I switched to (playing) girls hockey,” she said.

Her dream is without reach, or perhaps a slapshot or two away. Bozek was one of 40 invited to participate in the 2011 USA Hockey women’s winter training camp, which starts Monday in Blaine, Minn. She is one of four Golden Gophers invited and one of three with Illinois ties. Defenseman Lisa Chesson is from Plainfield, while forward Kendall Coyne is from Palos Heights.

Bozek has been in the pool of U.S. National Team players for two years and was a member of the U18 team that, in 2009, won the World Championships in Germany.

“Megan has a perfect combination of size, skill, speed and a big shot, so she’s able to do a lot of great things in the offensive end of the rink,” said Minnesota coach Brad Frost. “Megan has always been a very good offensive defenseman, but this year she’s taken her game to a whole new level on the defensive end. She’s really taken a lot of pride in limiting the other team’s top scorers, even eliminating their (scoring) chances. By doing that, her offensive game actually has improved. She really has taken a huge leap forward over the past year or two, and she now is, arguably, one of the best defenseman in the country.

“She was more one-dimensional in the past, but this year has really become an elite defenseman. I think the sky’s the limit for Megan. The hard part for Megan as a defenseman (within the pool of players) on the National Team is, there are limited spots.”

Of the 13 defensemen invited to the winter training camp, five are former Olympians, and two of the 13 (Caitlin Cahow and Molly Engstrom) are two-time Olympians.

Bozek’s odds to skate for the U.S. at the 2014 Olympics in Russia are slim, but more likely after those Games, Frost said.

“She’s a threat every time she’s on the ice. She’s someone who other teams have to really pay attention to,” he said.

The winter training camp is a tryout for the U.S. team that will compete next April in the 2012 International Ice Hockey Federation Women’s World Championship in Burlington, Verm. Team USA has won the last three world championships and will face Canada in its first game of the eight-nation tournament.

“Every time you go to these camps, it’s a time to fight for a spot (on the roster),” she said. “You just have to have a clear mindset, and just keep on doing what you’ve been doing all season.”

Bozek has often been paired with Harvard alum Cahow, an Olympian in 2006 and 2010, who is now playing for the Boston Blades, the only U.S.-based team in the elite Canadian Women’s Hockey League. Cahow is, “arguably, one of the best defenseman in the world, so learning from her is huge,” Bozek said.

“I just need to stay positive, focused, because one bad shift can cost you.”

And not get caught up in the moment, either.

“Putting on the USA jersey is unbelievable,” Bozek said. “Heck, just seeing your jersey hanging at your stall in the locker room, there’s no better feeling than playing for your country. When the national anthem is playing, that’s huge. There absolutely is a lot of pressure at this level because a lot of people expect a lot out of you. Then again, you always want to be the best that you can be personally, whenever you’re playing. It’s good pressure.”

Bozek will celebrate Christmas in Buffalo Grove with her hockey-crazed family. Both of her brothers (Danny, 25; and Stephen, 22) played at Stevenson, while their dad, Tom, has been an on-ice official for 18 years. Tom and his wife, Patti, trek to their daughter’s games across the country about every other weekend.

“Megan’s brothers played a large part in her athletic development, constantly forcing her to raise her level in everything, from soccer and baseball in the backyard, to hockey and baseball with tennis balls in the basement,” Tom Bozek said. “Everything with Megan has been a pure bonus. As the last of our three children, when she (was born), I remember thinking, ‘A daughter (with) bows and ribbons, and no hockey,’ Wow, I was way off.”

Megan played boys travel baseball until age 12 and was a left-handed pitcher with a 75 mph fastball who also could hit and field. But ice was her natural home. After all, she first skated at 21 months during a Friday night public skating session at the Glenview Ice Center.

“With two hockey-playing brothers in the house, it was going to happen,” Tom said. “So, we bundled her up with all the protective hockey equipment (thus) she wouldn’t get injured, put her on the ice and walked her around. She took to it immediately.”

Bozek is a diverse social media maven, mixing Facebook and Twitter, more of the latter. She also follows the Twitter reports of many professional athletes, including Paul Bissonnette and Chad Ochocinco.

Her Christmas wish list includes a Nike watch, and her area visit this week also will, no doubt, include a stop at Portillo’s for the house dressing on their chopped salad, she said.

Bozek is slated to graduate in May 2013 with a degree in sports management and eventually wants to become a sports agent. She also is considering playing professionally overseas, perhaps in Switzerland. But don’t expect her to follow Tom’s skates into officiating.

“I don’t have the patience for that, nor do I like when all of the pressure is on me to make a big decision,” she said.

Instead, she’s focused on the team concept.

“It’s nice to know that the hard work is playing off (this season),” she said. “I never have a bad moment on the ice. Playing hockey is the two hours when you don’t have to worry about school and (can) just have fun.

“The next month is going to be huge.”

In fact, the next few months could be quite memorable for the former childhood goalie who is eyeing an NCAA championship and world championship this spring.

“I’d love nothing more than to win both in one year,” she said.