St. Cloud Icebreaker standout Anne Schleper displays the gold medal she won and jersey she wore as a key member of the U.S. Women’s National Under-18 team that won the World Championships last week in Calgary, Alberta.

Prep girls hockey: Schleper brings home the gold.

Anne Schleper carried more than just her backpack when she arrived at St. Cloud Cathedral High School Monday morning.

The University of Minnesota-bound senior was in possession of a gold medal she won Saturday while competing on the U.S. Women’s National Under-18 team at the inaugural International Ice Hockey Federation World Championships in Calgary, Alberta. Team USA defeated Canada 5-2 in the final, capping a 5-0 run at the championships.

Schleper, who was named one of Team USA’s top three players after recording a goal and two assists while going plus-11 during the championships, still can’t believe what she experienced last week.

“When I saw my jersey hanging in the locker room, I was taken aback,” Schleper said. “It definitely was an honor to play for my country and my teammates back home.”

Schleper missed four St. Cloud Icebreakers games while competing in Canada, but said the sacrifice was worth the opportunity to win a medal.

Before the championships, Schleper and the rest of the Under-18 national team traveled to Lake Placid, N.Y., to scrimmage against members of Team USA’s Under-22 team and returning members of Team USA’s Olympic team training for the 2010 Games.

From there it was on to Calgary, where Schleper and her teammates had two hours a day to themselves — most of which was spent catching up on sleep.

“Our coaches told us we were there for one reason and that was to win a gold medal,” Schleper said.

The team cruised through pool play and defeated the Czech Republic 8-0 in the semifinals, setting up a championship game with Canada — a team that had swept Team USA in Ottawa during a three-game series in August.

A sellout crowd of 3,000 people crammed into Father David Bauer Arena to watch the rematch.

“We were all looking for revenge from the summer,” Schleper said. “We were pretty outnumbered with fans in the stands, but that’s just more fuel to get yourself fired up.

“I had to tune out their fans and concentrate on the fans chanting U-S-A.”

Team USA quickly silenced the Canadian faithful, scoring the game’s first four goals before Canada scored to close out the second period.

Immediately following the victory came the moment Schleper will not soon forget. The team was presented a championship trophy and individual gold medals were distributed to each player.

“There were so many things going through my mind after the game and I was just trying to take everything in,” Schleper said. “The best part of the tournament was everyone touching the (championship) trophy.”

The celebration didn’t last long for Schleper, who needed to get back on the ice for the Icebreakers.

Icebreakers coach Mark Chamernick and the rest of the team kept track of Schleper via webcast on the Internet and are glad she’s back, especially since St. Cloud will play six games in the next 11 days.

“I think the whole team is excited to have her back,” Chamernick said. “We did all right without her, but we’re on a two-game skid so we’re looking to get Anne back on the ice.

“She’s played good hockey the past two weeks, so hopefully she can come back and lead us to a playoff run.”

Schleper admits the transition maybe difficult at first, but she plans to do her best to help the Icebreakers into the postseason.

“Now that everyone is back we can all focus on making the playoffs,” Schleper said. “From there the sky is the limit.”

Notebook:

» Joining Schleper as Team USA’s top three players of the IIHF Championships were Sarah Erickson and Kendall Coyne. Erickson, a fellow U of M recruit, is a senior forward from Bemidji. The Icebreakers defeated Bemidji 2-1 on Jan. 5, the day Schleper and Erickson departed for Lake Placid, N.Y.

» Team USA’s other U of M recruit, Eagan senior goaltender Alyssa Grogan, was named the IIHF World Championships Best Goaltender after picking up one shutout and recording a total of 53 saves.