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FEBRUARY.2017 // MINNESOTAHOCKEYJOURNAL.COM 13 FOR LIFE BY WILL ROTTLER FOR LAURA BOWMAN AND AMY PETERSEN, it all started on the outdoor rinks in Minnetonka. Little did they know that 15 years later, the game they grew up loving would take them 1,000 miles away to University Park, Pennsylvania. For the past three-and-a-half seasons, the dynamic duo called Penn State—aka "Hockey Valley"—home. And they've helped build a budding college hockey program with some State of Hockey firepower. Penn State is currently in its fifth season as a full- fledged NCAA Division I women's hockey program play- ing in the College Hockey America (CHA) conference. The Nittany Lions are one of 36 programs that sponsor Division I women's hockey. Despite being a few states away, 10 Minnesotans make up almost half of the 21-member ros- ter, which includes five ladies that played high school hockey for Minnetonka. Growing Up In The State Of Hockey "We started playing hockey around age 7," Bowman said. Both Bowman and Petersen got their start following in the footsteps of their family members. For Petersen, though, it was a flier in the mail that got her family into it. "I had an older brother that played for one year before me," Petersen said. "My mom always says that Minnetonka Youth Hockey Association put a flier in our mailbox one day so they signed up my brother and he grew out of his gear pretty quick because he was a little boy growing up fast. So it worked out for me to play." For Bowman, she developed an interest in playing hockey at a young age by watching her father, Scott, play in a men's league. "I always knew that my dad played in a men's league and I thought it was really interesting and I always wanted to play because he played," Bowman said. Petersen noted that because she grew up in the State of Hockey, playing hockey was second nature. "Before I started playing organized hockey, you go down to the park with your skates and a stick and you attempt to play as best as you can at that age," Petersen said with a laugh. Minnetonka duo building a program— and a pipeline—in Hockey Valley