Westford's Kassidy Carmichael aims for Olympics after winning hockey world championship
BRAINTREE - The road to gold originated at home in Westford for two season athlete, Kassidy Carmichael.
"When I was younger, I think I was about four to five-years-old. My dad built a rink in our backyard. I kind of started skating on that. I really liked it," Kassidy said.
But her path to success has not always been smooth.
"I think when I was around 10 or 12. I wanted to quit hockey and play gymnastics, but my mom was like 'No, you're not doing that.' Thank God she said that or I wouldn't be here today," she said.
Now a junior in high school Kassidy lives and breathes hockey.
She currently plays forward/right wing at the North American Hockey Academy in Braintree.
"Around 7 o'clock we wake up. We either come to the rink or we go to weight room, but we usually go to weight room. We spend about an hour and a half in there then we come out on ice for another hour and a half," Kassidy explained.
"She's a hardworking athlete, you know, always ready to compete, brings a physicality to the ice, to the team," said Coach Toni Miano.
The hard work paid off for Kassidy.
She made the cut for the U.S. Under-18 Women's National Team, which just competed in the International Ice Hockey Federation World Championship in Switzerland.
And two of her academy teammates joined her there, Quinn Taylor and Alanna Devlin.
"When things got rough we leaned on each other and when things were good we also celebrated with one another," Center Alanna Devlin said.
They celebrated with each other when Kassidy scored not one, but two goals in the gold medal game on Sunday.
They brought home a 5-1 win for the U.S. against Czechia.
"Thinking about it right now it's like I can't even comprehend what just happened," Kassidy told WBZ.
"It was honestly insane," Devlin continued, "I think me and Kass were sitting next to each other when we were singing the anthem, so that was honestly so surreal."
But bringing home one gold medal is not Kassidy's end goal. She intends to take two different sports to the highest level, hockey and lacrosse.
"I watched her play a lacrosse game. I would hate to play against her, would hate to play against her in hockey as well," Coach Miano said.
"Very physical in both, but I just want to win," Kassidy explained.
Kassidy splits her time at between two different schools.
She attends North American Hockey Academy during hockey season, and she attends Westford Academy for lacrosse season.
She has already committed to playing both sports at Ohio State University when she graduates next year.
Her hope is that her path leads her from Massachusetts, to Ohio and then to the Olympics.