POTSDAM -- After spending the past two years as an assistant coach for the Clarkson University Women's Hockey team, Meghan Duggan is stepping away from the college coaching ranks to train for the 2018 Winter Olympics.

Duggan, who has juggled her duties as a coach for the Golden Knights along with the playing professional hockey for Team USA, will concentrate her efforts preparing for the upcoming 2018 XXIII Olympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

"The past two years at Clarkson have been absolutely tremendous," said Duggan. "The opportunities that I was given allowed me to learn and grow both as a person and a coach. The way the University and community welcomed me with open arms is something that I will cherish and miss. I fell in love with coaching up here in the North Country. Although I have made the decision to step away at this time to focus on my own personal playing/training goals, Clarkson will always have a special place in my heart."

Duggan, along with fellow assistant coach Britni Smith, helped Clarkson Coach Matt Desrosiers guide the team to 54-16-8 overall record the past two years. With Duggan helping behind the Knights' bench, Clarkson earned an ECAC hockey regular season title and competed in two NCAA tournaments.

The Knights capped off the second-best season in the 13-year history of the program with a 30-5-5 overall record and a Frozen Four appearance in 2015-16.

"Although it's tough to see Meg go I fully support her decision and appreciate all the hard work and dedication she gave to our program over the last two years," Desrosiers said. "After working with her and seeing how hard she worked at everything she does it's easy to see why she has been so successful. She not only brought a lot to our staff, but really gave our players someone to look up to and learn from. I really wish her all the best moving forward in her preparation for the next Olympics. She will definitely be missed."

A two-time Olympic silver-medalist and captain for Team USA's gold-medal winning squads at the 2015 and 2016 IIHF World Championships, Duggan has played extensively with the United States National program. She skated in both the 2010 and 2014 Winter Olympics, serving as USA's captain at the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia. A native of Danvers, Mass., she also represented the U.S. at seven Women's World Championships, capturing a gold medal six times (2008, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2016) and one silver (2007).

Duggan was an all-star forward in college for four seasons (2006-09, 2010-11) at the University of Wisconsin. She was honored with the 2011 Patty Kazmaier Award as the top player in NCAA Division I Women's Hockey in her senior campaign.