USA Hockey’s Savannah Harmon blazes unexpected path to Olympic debut

U.S. defender Savannah Harmon heads into the women’s hockey gold medal game vs. Canada on Wednesday with two goals and five assists in six games at the 2022 Winter Olympics. But while the 26-year-old is one of just three American players to record seven or more points in Beijing, she’s the only one making her Games debut.

Joining Harmon with seven points so far is three-time Olympian Amanda Kessel (two goals, five assists), while four-time Olympian Hilary Knight has nine points (five goals, four assists).

“Just to be able to celebrate and be alongside these women that are on this team – they all inspire me every day and I’m just so incredibly honored to be with them and be their teammate,” Harmon told On Her Turf prior to leaving for Beijing.

Harmon has quickly proven she belongs, too, even if she didn’t follow the typical path for the U.S. national team.

While the majority of Harmon’s teammates competed for the U.S. at the U-18 level before joining the senior national team, Harmon never got those call-ups.

“I wasn’t invited to any camps; I wasn’t really a part of the USA program,” explained Harmon, who played all four years at Clarkson University in Potsdam, N.Y., and won back-to-back NCAA national titles her last two seasons.

“That was always a goal, in the back of my mind. But how I envision[ed] myself getting there was being really good for Clarkson and helping the team the best way I [could] there. And then hopefully [making the U.S. team] comes after, which it did.”

Upon graduation from Clarkson, Harmon stayed in New York and headed to Buffalo, where she joined the Buffalo Beauts of the National Women’s Hockey League (later rebranded as the Premier Hockey Federation). She played while earning her master’s degree in