University of Minnesota Duluth women's hockey head coach Maura Crowell's suitcase will be just a tad heavier when she arrives back in Duluth this weekend.

Crowell, an assistant coach for the United States Women's National Under-18 Team, was on the bench late last night when the USA battled back from a two-goal deficit to claim a 3-2 victory against Canada in the 2016 International Ice Hockey Federation Under-18 Women's World Championship in St. Catharines, Ontario.

"It was a tremendous honor to represent my country at this year's U-18 World Championships," said Crowell after the championship game.  "We were fortunate to have a great group of young women who fought hard through adversity in the gold medal game, never quit, and defeated a very talented Canadian team in overtime. I'm very proud of the players and staff who helped make it happen."

Along with Crowell, UMD was well represented in the gold medal contest, with two Bulldog early signees on the ice -- forward Sydney Brodt (North Oaks, Minn.) on the USA roster and her soon to be teammate, defenseman Jayln Elmes (Brandon, Manitoba) on the Canadian squad.

The Bulldogs will face the No. 8/9 University of North Dakota this afternoon at AMSOIL Arena at 3 p.m.