Augsburg College alumnus Andrew Kent '09 is traveling halfway around the world for the adventure of a lifetime.

Kent will be serving as goalie coach for the Finland women's hockey team in the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, with his team's first game coming up on Saturday against the United States.

A goalie for the Auggie men's hockey team from 2005-09, Kent has turned his love of hockey into a profession, serving as a director of goaltender development for MEGA Goaltending, a Twin Cities-based development center for hockey goalies. He has served as a volunteer goalie coach for the University of Minnesota's women's hockey team for the past four seasons, which led to his current role on the Finland coaching staff for the 2014 Winter Olympics.

Finland's primary goalie, Noora Raty, was a three-time All-American for the Gophers and one of the top goalies in collegiate women's hockey history, as a part of back-to-back NCAA Division I national championship teams in 2011-12 and 2012-13. She finished her senior season with a 38-0-0 record and a 0.96 goals-against-average, recording an NCAA single-season record 17 shutouts. Her 114 career victories and 43 career shutouts are both NCAA Division I all-time records.

"I instantly formed a good relationship with Noora," Kent said in a recent e-mail interview. "Due to this relationship and success, Noora wanted me to coach her in the Olympics. So with some paperwork from the International Olympic Committee to get accredited, as well as approval from the Finnish Ice Hockey Federation, I am now coaching for Team Finland in the Olympics."

A part of Finland's national team since she was 15 years old, Raty will be competing in her third Olympics this year. Finland earned the bronze medal at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, and last year, Raty was a part of the silver-medal-winning Finnish team at the 4 Nations Cup. In that tournament, Finland beat the United States 3-1 -- with Raty making 58 saves -- to go 2-1 in pool play, earning a spot in the championship game.

"Whenever you are the best in the world at something like Noora is, there are multiple reasons why (she is a great goalie) … Her preparation, her high hockey IQ and her strong, confident mental approach to the game," Kent said. "We have spent countless hours over this period of time strengthening her basic fundamentals, going over game situations as well as having a mental plan on how to play consistently."

Kent traveled to Helsinki, Finland, for a brief training camp this week with the squad, and the team arrived in Russia for the Olympics on Tuesday. Finland's first game is on Saturday (2 a.m. Central time), facing the United States. The USA and Canada are considered the favorites to compete for the gold medal. The two teams have dominated international women's hockey, with the Americans winning the gold medal at the inaugural Olympic tournament in 1998 and the Canadians claiming the past three gold medals. Finland has earned the bronze medal in both 1998 and 2010.

"It is a little different wearing Finnish stuff and representing a country other than your own. However, like any craftsman, you take pride in your work and I have only worked with this team, and I'm proud to be a part of it," Kent said. "I know a lot of the players on Team USA, and of course you wish them well. They are one of the best teams in the tournament and it will be good for us to see how we match up. I guess you might think that some day you could be helping your own country in this tournament, but for now, my main focus is helping Team Finland win … Hockey is a funny game and anything can happen in one game. I guess that's what makes it so exciting to watch, but our team's goal is to medal."

Kent said that adapting to coaching the Finland squad has been a positive one, with the biggest challenge being the language barrier. But even that hasn't been a huge obstacle.

"All of the coaches speak in Finnish when they are talking to the team, but they all speak English. So typically, one of the other coaches will translate for me when needed," Kent said. "When we are in coaches meetings, they speak in English. Also the three goalies speak English as well, some better than others, so in that case I have to communicate visually with more examples."

Kent credits his Augsburg experience as helping him prepare for an international experience like this one. During his career at Augsburg, Kent earned All-Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference honors in his sophomore season, 2006-07, while earning all-conference honorable-mention honors in his senior season, 2008-09. He earned his bachelor's degree in business administration from Augsburg in 2009. Kent is also serving as a goalie coach for the Augsburg men's hockey team this season.

"My international business classes helped me in how to deal with the cultural differences I have experienced so far. Also, my experience as a player and now coach at Augsburg has helped me relate to the players better and helped me get my coaching messages across, because I can give them practical feedback," he said.

In addition to its game against the United States, Finland will face Canada on Monday, Feb., 10, and Switzerland on Wednesday, Feb. 12 in pool play during the eight-team Olympic tournament. The medal round begins on Saturday, Feb. 15, with the finals set for Thursday, Feb. 20.

"It is special and I am proud to just be a part of this Olympics. I will take life-long memories away from this incredible experience as it is," Kent said. "However, I am here to do a job, and that job is to help Finland medal, and if we are able to accomplish that goal on this world stage, I can only try to imagine how I will feel. Just like when we had an undefeated season at the 'U,' it is tough to see the enormity of such life events until you get a little further away from them and look back on them. When you are going through it, you try to stay focused on the task at hand."