As the final horn sounded in one of upstate New York’s biggest college hockey rivalries, Union College and RPI were going at it.
Union Goaltender Monja Wagner was teetering on a wave of mixed emotions. She made the save to secure the Mayors Cup, but it came in the middle of her final regular season game this year as a Garnet Charger. Despite 6 games left on their schedule, Wagner isn’t going to play.
Let’s back up to four weeks earlier, when Wagner got a call from Swiss women's hockey coach Colin Muller in the middle of practice.
“We were doing a team lift or activation together and I got the call and I ran out of the gym and once he said the words, 'We would love to have you on the team,' you just try to stay as calm as possible,” said Wagner.
Wagner had just been asked to join the Swiss women's hockey team at the Olympics in Milan-Cortina, Italy this year.
On her way to the Olympics in Milan, Wagner will stop in her native Switzerland to see her parents for the first time since learning she made the team.
“It’s a very proud moment getting to tell your parents that you are going to the Olympics,” said Wagner.
For her parents, it’s validation for the hours they put in.
“My dad got up in the mornings and drove me to hockey games, at 6 A.M., or my mom cooking me food after a late practice. They've been a part of this since the beginning,” Wagner said.
While Wagner had represented Switzerland multiple times at the junior level it was only recently that she learned she was in the Olympic conversation.
“Last spring, I got the chance to go to the World Championships with Switzerland, which was really fun, and that was a turning point," Wagner said. "And I wouldn’t say I had any expectation of making the Olympics, but I knew I was as close as I had ever been."
Wagner knew if an opportunity to prove herself came she had to seize it.
“I knew I was gonna get invited for a November camp in Sweden, where I also had my first start for the national team," Wagner said. "And I played an unreal game, probably one of the best games of my career. So from that on, I was gaining more and more confidence. I was like, this might actually work."
For Union, losing Wagner mid-season is tough but it gives them a goal to play for.
“Like Coach Toni said we are going to miss her as a person and she held us in a lot of games, so we have to make it up to her,” said team captain Stephanie Bourque.
But, just because she’s playing for another country doesn’t mean they won't be rooting for her.
“We are all going to be rooting for our home countries but also the Swiss on the side,” said head coach Toni Maci
Switzerland plays their first group stage game Feb. 6 against Czechia.
