St. Bernard’s School students fawn over Principal Andrea Kilborne-Hill’s Olympic silver medal, jersey and Opening Ceremony jacket. Kilborne-Hill was on the 2002 Olympic USA women’s hockey team. The students then watched the USA versus Canada gold medal game in the school. USA won in overtime 2-1. (Provided photo — Kristin Perry)

SARANAC LAKE — The meeting room of St. Bernard’s School rang with the sound of dozens of students screaming “USA! USA! USA!” as the kids had a watch party for the USA women’s hockey team’s gold medal game against Canada on Thursday.

They also had a special Olympic guest — their very own principal, Andrea Kilbourne-Hill.

Kilbourne-Hill, a Saranac Lake native, was a forward with the USA hockey women’s team in the 2002 Winter Olympics when they won a silver medal for the country.

She played hockey for the Lake Placid Rockets and at Northwood School in Lake Placid. She moved back to town after her hockey career.

She said not all the students knew that she was an Olympian. The Games only come up in conversation around once every four years, she said, and some of them do not remember the last time there was a Winter Olympics.

She said they were starting to put it together as they fawned over her silver medal, her jersey and her Opening Ceremony jacket.

Kilbourne-Hill was on edge during the watch party.

“It’s so nerve-wracking. I’m not even playing it and I feel nervous,” she said.

She was remembering the emotions that those players were feeling on Thursday.

“This team is so good. This team is really good,” she said of the current USA team. “It’s an impressive bunch of women hockey players.”

Though they are tremendous athletes, Kilbourne-Hill said, playing against a team like Canada’s, “you never know what’s going to happen.”

“Games against Canada, it’s like, both teams are so strong, a little bounce here or a little bounce there makes such a difference,” she said.

She was hoping “hockey gods” were in their favor.

And they seemed to be.

After Canada jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the second period, USA rallied with a score from Captain Hilary Knight with two minutes left on the clock, sending the game into overtime. After four minutes of OT play, Megan Keller clinched the win for the U.S. with a gold medal goal.

School had let out after the first period of the game, but Kilbourne-Hill stayed glued to the action.

“I couldn’t breath for a bit there!” she told the Enterprise as she celebrated the win.

Kilbourne-Hill’s game against Canada in 2002 ended with the Canadians winning 3-2.

Canada and the USA are heated rivals in the global women’s hockey field — facing off for the gold medal seven out of the eight times the sport’s been in the Olympics. USA has won three of these gold medal match-ups now.