Sasha Sherry's love affair with ice hockey began at the age of 8.

"My mom took me ice skating and I saw people playing hockey," recalled Sherry, 23, who had been skating since she was 2 years old. "Right then and there I decided I wanted to try it."It was a decision that would impact her life, her goals and her dreams.Sherry's love for hockey and her burgeoning world-class talent formed a union that paved the way for some incredible achievements, including:• Attending Shattuck St. Mary's prep school in Minnesota where she was part of three U19 National Championships.• Playing four years of hockey at Princeton University where she became the school's first-ever NCAA Division I Women's Ice Hockey All-American.• Earning a spot on several United States national teams, including the senior national team.But hockey also led to the biggest disappointment of Sherry's young life.Early yearsAlmost from the moment she laced up her first pair of hockey skates, Sherry began to skyrocket up the youth hockey food chain.She played on numerous teams, in different age groups and at various talent levels, devouring the competition along the way.But there was one constant during her meteoric rise in the sport she was always the only girl on the team."From the time I started playing hockey until I was 14 years old, I played on all-boys teams and in all-boys leagues," said Sherry of Lehighton. "The first time I played with girls is when I went to high school."I think practicing with and playing against boys when I was younger really helped my development as a hockey player. Because boys are typically faster and stronger, I had to concentrate on techniques and fundamentals to make up for that. The speed that boys play at also helped my reaction time and decision making skills."Hockey and educationSherry's decision making skills weren't just tested on the ice, however. They were also tested when it came to her education and her hockey career.With virtually no high schools in Pennsylvania that sponsored women's ice hockey teams, Sherry's options were limited."I wanted to play girls hockey, but almost all of my choices were out of state," said Sherry. "I looked into a number of prep schools in the New England area, but for a lot of reasons, Shattuck St. Mary's in Minnesota was the best choice for me."At St. Mary's, Sherry, a 6-0 defenseman, was surrounded by talented teammates and was part of a powerhouse program.During her time there, Sherry played on three national championship teams. She also started drawing the attention of USA Hockey."It was during my time at St. Mary's that I first started dreaming about making the Olympic team," said Sherry.It was also a time when Sherry was starting to get noticed by college programs."I got scholarship offers from Wisconsin and Minnesota, two of the top women's hockey programs in the nation," she said. "But I ended up choosing Princeton because of their outstanding academics."HeartbreakFollowing her sophomore year at Princeton in 2009, Sherry received an invitation to the United States Olympic team tryouts.During a weeklong camp in Blaine, Minn., she came tantalizingly close to fulfilling her dream."They had 16 defensemen at the camp and were picking eight to represent our country at the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, Canada," said Sherry. "They ranked the players' performance during the camp and I finished 10th, so I was just two spots away from making the team. That was tough to take."But Sherry was still a teenager and had two more years left until she graduated from Princeton.She wasn't going to let go of her dream that easily."I decided right there, that after I graduated, I was going to put dental school on hold and do everything I possibly could to make the 2014 Olympic team."That meant moving to Boston after graduation and attending one of the top training facilities in the country.Sherry thought things were moving in the right direction when she made the USA national team for the 2011 International Ice Hockey Federation Twelve Nations Invitational in Finland.The United States captured the tournament championship, destroying the competition in the process. The team won all six of its games, outscoring the opposition 48-1 along the way. Sherry played in five of the six games."I thought I had a good tournament and was feeling pretty happy with my game," said Sherry. "But then I got the phone call."The 'phone call' Sherry was referring to came from USA head coach Katey Stone just weeks after the tournament ended."The conversation is a bit of a blur to me now, but she told me they had decided I wasn't in their future plans," said Sherry. "Even in 2011, they had an eye on the 2014 Olympic team and they told me that I wasn't going to be part of it."Sherry was devastated."I thought I was good enough to be part of the team, but I understand that at the elite level the difference between players can be razor thin. Different coaches are looking for different things."I still don't agree with the decision, but I respect it."That didn't make it any easier, however.'I didn't skate for six months," said Sherry. "I was so heartbroken. My dream had been ripped away from me. I couldn't even think about hockey."Sochi OlympicsWith the Sochi Olympics Games under way, Sherry said it's impossible not to think back to the 2010 Olympic tryouts and the day in 2011 when coach Stone called her."I'd be worried about myself if I wasn't feeling a little disappointed and a little jealous," said Sherry, who will be starting dental school this summer. "But at the same time, I'm thrilled for the girls who made the team because I know how hard they worked to get there."Four of my friends from prep school at St. Mary's are on the team so I'm going to be pulling especially hard for them. I've also either played with or played against everyone on the team during some point in my career so I know the entire team. They are so talented. I'm hoping for nothing but the best for them"Sherry said she will definitely be watching all the games."I don't know where I'm going to be watching yet, but I'm playing in an adult hockey league in the Lehigh Valley now and I've talked to some of the people I play with about watching the games together."Sherry is back on the ice, because although she had a six-month breakup with the sport of hockey, she never fell out of love with it."It took me a little while, but I couldn't stay away," said Sherry. "I'm playing in an adult ice hockey league, a roller hockey league, I'm giving lessons, and I'm instructing at youth camps and clinics. So, I'm once again very involved with the sport."Sherry appears to have rediscovered her true love and her hockey life has also appeared to come full circle.Because in that adult hockey league she is currently playing in, she is once again the only girl in the league.Sometimes, the more things change, the more they stay the same.Check out our Olympics coverage at

www.tnonline.com.