Sara Ann DeCosta (born May 13, 1977) is an American

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

player. She won a

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have bee ...

at the

1998 Winter Olympics The 1998 Winter Olympics, officially known as the and commonly known as Nagano 1998 ( ja, 長野1998), was a winter multi-sport event held from 7 to 22 February 1998, mainly in Nagano, Japan, with some events taking place in the ...

, and a

silver medal A silver medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc ...

at the

2002 Winter Olympics The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Salt Lake 2002 ( arp, Niico'ooowu' 2002; Gosiute Shoshoni: ''Tit'-so-pi 2002''; nv, Sooléí 2002; Shoshoni: ''Soónkahni 2002''), was an internation ...

Biography

She is the daughter of Nancy and Frank DeCosta. She was born in and grew up in

Warwick, Rhode Island Warwick ( or ) is a city in Kent County, Rhode Island, the third largest city in the state with a population of 82,823 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. It is located approximately south of downtown Providence, Rhode Island, sout ...

, and is Jewish. She is an alumna of

Toll Gate High School Toll Gate High School is a public high school in Warwick, Rhode Island on Centerville Road. It serves education to grades 9-12 and has approximately 1100 students and 97 teachers. History The school opened in 1972 with Robert J. Shapiro as the fi ...

, where she played goalie on the boys' hockey team. DeCosta is married, and the couple has three children. She attended

Providence College Providence College is a Private university, private Catholic Church, Catholic university in Providence, Rhode Island. Founded in 1917 by the Dominican Order and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence, local diocese, it offers 47 undergradua ...

('00), where she was a hockey goalie, and allowed only 177 goals with 2,324 saves in 85 games. She graduated with a degree in social science, with concentrations in sociology and psychology. She won a

at the

(she had three wins, one a shutout, with a 1.59 goals-against average and a .875 save percentage) and a

at the

, where she had the best goals-against average and save percentage. She won a World Championship silver medal in 2000, had the best GAA (0.50) and the best SVS% (.975) at the 2001 World Championship where she again won a silver medal, and had the best GAA (1.00) and the best SVS% (.948) at the 2002 World Championship where she again won a silver medal. DeCosta was USA Hockey Women's Player of the Year in 2000. In 2002–03, she was a volunteer coach for the women's hockey team at Providence. She was the goaltending coach for the Harvard Crimson women's ice hockey team in 2008–09. DeCosta was named by

Brandeis University , mottoeng = "Truth even unto its innermost parts" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = NECHE , president = Ronald D. Liebowitz , pro ...

, a contemporary Jewish sports heroine.

Awards and honors

*2000 and 2002 USA Hockey Women's Player of the Year Award (also known as the Bob Allen Women's Player of the Year award) *2004 - inducted into the

Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame The Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame was established in the State of Rhode Island in 1965. Its mission statement states that the Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame "exists to honor and recognize, and to extol and publicize the achievements of th ...

. *2018 - inducted into the Rhode Island Hockey Hall of Fame.

References

External links

* 1977 births American women's ice hockey goaltenders Ice hockey players from Rhode Island Ice hockey players at the 1998 Winter Olympics Ice hockey players at the 2002 Winter Olympics Jewish American sportspeople Jewish ice hockey players Living people Medalists at the 1998 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 2002 Winter Olympics Olympic gold medalists for the United States in ice hockey Olympic silver medalists for the United States in ice hockey Providence Friars women's ice hockey players Sportspeople from Warwick, Rhode Island 21st-century American Jews 21st-century American women {{US-icehockey-bio-stub

Biography

Awards and honors

See also

References

External links