SCHENECTADY, N.Y. -- What Christmas Day it was for Union sophomore defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere.

Shayne was one of 23 players named to the final roster for the 2013 U.S. National Junior Team. Now, Gostisbehere and the rest of the team will compete in the 2013 International Ice Hockey Federation World Junior Championship which is now underway and will run through January 5th in Russia.

Gostisbehere is the first ever Union player to participate, but it also means he'll miss out on Union's games this weekend against Vermont and Merrimack and possibly next weekend's series at Lake Superior State.

First up for Team USA, they'll take on Germany at 9:00am on Thursday.