BURLINGTON, Vt. – Participating in her eighth International Ice Hockey Federation Women's World Championship, Union's Julie Chu has been named the captain of the U.S. Women's National Team. It is the first time that Chu has served as captain of Team USA, though she served as an assistant captain during the 2010 Olympics and the 2011 Four Nations Cup. The Connecticut native scored a power play goal in the opening preliminary-round game to help the U.S. earn a 9-2 victory over Canada on April 7^th.

"It's a great honor to be named captain of a team with so many incredible players and leaders,” says Chu. “I'm not really looking to change my approach to the team now that I am captain. I want to continue to be vocal amongst the girls, but also make sure my actions speak even louder."

After completing her second season as an assistant coach for the Union College women's hockey team, Chu continues to hit milestones in her playing career.

“We are so proud of Julie and her accomplishments,” says women's hockey Head Coach Claudia Barcomb. “I have known that Julie is an excellent leader, and I am so happy that she is serving as a great leader for USA Hockey in the World Championships.  Our team knows what a huge asset she is to our program, and we are so proud of her and want her to do her best!”

A three-time Olympian, Chu helped lead the U.S. to the silver medal at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, as well as the bronze in 2006 and the silver in 2002. She has now played in over 200 games for the U.S. Women's National Team.

Last year, the Harvard graduate recorded the game-winning assist in overtime to help Team USA earn a 3-2 victory against Canada at the 2011 IIHF Women's World Championship. Chu finished the tournament with seven points (one goal, six assists) in five games.

One of 23 players that makes up the current Team USA, Chu was chosen following a selection camp that began on March 25^th in Lake Placid, New York. The roster is made up of 13 Olympians, 15 World Champions, nine World U18 Champions, 15 members of the gold-winning 2009 Women's World Championship team, 17 players of the first-place 2011 Four Nations Cup team and 12 NCAA Division I players. Chu falls into several of those categories.

"We will rely on many of the other veteran players to step up and lead at various times,” says Chu. “We have a special group here and look forward to the remaining games.”

The top-seeded squad has already defeated Canada (9-2), Russia (9-0) and Finland (11-0) to advance to the semifinals. Team USA will play the winner of Russia vs. Switzerland on Friday, April 13^th, at 7 p.m. in Burlington, Vermont.