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In February 2017, Team Japan entered its final Olympic ice hockey qualification tournament match against Germany. With France and Austria mathematically eliminated, a win would secure a berth to the 2018 PyeongChang Olympic Games and a second consecutive Olympic appearance for Japan.

Captained by Syracuse ice hockey alumna Akane Hosoyamada, Japan notched two goals in the first 11 minutes of the second period, with Hosoyamada assisting the second on the power play.

Germany scored later in the period, but a Japanese goal in the third period secured a 3-1 win and sweep of the tournament field. Japan earned a trip to South Korea for its third Olympic appearance and Hosoyamada’s first.

“I think that was just a huge moment for me,” Hosoyamada said. “Just playing in my home country and just seeing how hockey is growing in Japan.”

Hosoyamada played at Syracuse from 2010-15, recording 151 appearances — the second-most behind Victoria Klimek — and she notched the program’s fifth-most points by a defenseman with 61 (10 goals and 51 assists). She was named to College Hockey America’s All-Rookie Team as a freshman, and in her fifth year, Hosoyamada captained the Orange and earned a spot on the CHA All-Second Team.

Now, Hosoyamada’s heading to Beijing for her second Olympic Games appearance. She’s the second Syracuse ice hockey graduate to go to the Winter Olympics along with Stefanie Marty — previously a member of Switzerland’s 2006, 2010 and 2014 teams.

Born and raised in the small Canadian town Banff, Alberta, Hosoyamada, whose parents are Japanese, knew she wanted to play collegiately in the United States.

Once she arrived at SU, Hosoyamada said current coaches Paul Flanagan, Brendon Knight and then-assistant coach Alison Domenico pushed her to play for Team Japan. Nicole Renault, Hosoyamada’s SU teammate, said Hosoyamada realized she could only play at Syracuse for so long and it was ultimately a question of what was next.

Hosoyamada mostly played defense but occasionally played forward at Syracuse. Regardless, she was vital in close-game situations, power plays and penalty kills, SU teammate Julie Knerr said.

“If you’re playing against her one-on-one on the corner, you better be ready to go,” Knerr said. “She’s pretty active, shifty and has a lot of drive.”

Despite being eligible to play for Team Canada, Hosoyamada never received an invitation to the U-18 national team. But she still felt she was ready to compete at the international level, citing her time playing against high-level competition at Syracuse.

Hosoyamada first watched Japan at the 2014 Sochi Olympics, where the team finished last, losing all five of its games. By 2015, she started attending Japan’s training camps, though she needed to wait one gap year before she could compete because of eligibility rules.

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Professionally, Hosoyamada wasn’t sure on where she wanted to play. She knew the Canadian Women’s Hockey League was developing and a U.S.-based league was forming in 2015. Hosoyamada joined the CWHL’s Calgary Inferno in 2016-17 before relocating to Japan to continue her hockey career both professionally and nationally, and she now plays for Tomakomai’s Douro Kensetsu-Peregrine.

“I always played in North America, so I wanted a challenge internationally,” Hosoyamada said.

At first, the move was slightly difficult with the language and cultural barriers, but it was “nothing too big,” Hosoyamada said. After a few years in Japan, she’s noticed a change in the style of play.

“In North America, there’s a certain style of play that everyone plays, but internationally, every country has a different style,” Hosoyamada said. “So just being able to adapt or not being able to adapt, I think that’s something that really made me realize how different it is internationally.”

Hosoyamada noticed North American teams’ physical style of play, while internationally, more teams focus on the skill and technical aspects like passing and handling. Japan’s strengths are stamina and speed, the Czech Republic plays “clean hockey” with “clean passes,” and the U.S and Canada, are just “well-rounded” as both teams are the only ones to ever take Olympic gold, she said.

The defenseman earned a gold medal at the 2017 Asian Winter Games where Japan outscored opponents 98-1. At the 2017 International Ice Hockey Federation Division I Championships in Austria, Hosoyamada notched a hat trick against Norway in a 5-3 comeback victory. An undefeated Japan topped the group, earning a promotion to the 2019 IIHF World Championship in Finland, where the team fell 4-0 in the quarterfinals to the U.S.

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In the PyeongChang Olympics, Hosoyamada assisted Japan’s third goal in a 4-1 win over combined Koreas, Japan’s first Olympic victory. The team placed sixth with a win over Sweden and a loss to Switzerland in the fifth-place game. Hosoyamada said having the experience will allow her to focus, calm down and play her game in Beijing.

This Olympic cycle, Japan’s 2020 IIHF ranking guaranteed a direct Olympic berth, but it limited the international games the team could play since the pandemic canceled competitions. Hosoyamada said there was a period of about eight months when the team didn’t get together and had to instead focus on individual fitness and conditioning.

During the pandemic, Hosoyamada lifted roughly five days a week for an hour and a half in a training regiment that mimicked the one she had at Syracuse. Hosoyamada said the training helped her adjust to the pause, and Japan eventually returned several months later to prepare for the 2021 IIHF World Championship. The team’s sixth-place finish was its best-ever.

“I think culturally, we have smaller bodies than some of the other international teams. We were really focusing on building our bodies, making them stronger, more stable,” Hosoyamada said.

In November and December, the team held more rigorous training to prepare for the Olympics, having near-daily morning lifting sessions and evening practices. Currently, the team is “slowing it down” with only one training session a day, focusing on correcting its systems and conditioning with a few exhibition games against local high school boys teams, Hosoyamada said.

Despite COVID-19 adding uncertainty to the 2022 Olympics, Hosoyamada said Japan’s still prepared for play beginning on Feb. 3 against Sweden.

“I’m born and raised in Canada, but both of my parents are Japanese so just being able to go back to my roots and representing where I’m coming from is just truly an honor,” Hosoyamada said.

Published on February 1, 2022 at 11:12 pm

Contact Cole: colebambini@gmail.com | @ColeBambini