ALBANY, N.Y. — ECAC Hockey has announced that the winner of the 2021 Mandi Schwartz Student-Athlete of the Year award is Cornell University senior Devon Facchinato. 

The Mandi Schwartz Student-Athlete of the Year award is presented annually to an ECAC Hockey women’s player in honor of former Yale University student-athlete Mandi Schwartz (1988-2011). Mandi passed away in April of 2011, but continues to inspire the entire hockey community through the memory of her courageous battle with acute myeloid leukemia. 

Nominees for this prestigious award must be leaders within their teams, in the classroom, and in the community. For this season only, on-ice accomplishments were removed from consideration for this award.

Facchinato (Windsor, Ont.) is a senior Chemistry major. Since her start at Cornell four years ago, she’s been one of the top students in her class, and has established herself as one of the best teachers assistants within her major. She also serves as a tutor to fellow Cornell students. 

One of Devon’s professors summed up her all-around excellence the best when he said “Devon is truly an exceptional athlete, student, and the finest young woman imaginable. I can imagine no one more better suited for this award.”

Within the Ithaca community, Facchinato has gotten involved in several areas, volunteering for Feed My Starving Children, Do It For Daron, Salvation Army, Big Sister, and the Cancer Resource Center. A diverse athlete, she’s also a volunteer soccer coach. Although many student-athletes are involved in community service efforts through their team, Devon has gone above and beyond what is expected of her, and taken on leadership roles in these efforts.

The senior boasts numerous academic honors, having been named to the ECAC Hockey All-Academic team three times, an All-American Scholar in 2018 and 2019, and an Appleby College Governor General’s Award recipient. She’s been on the Cornell University Deans list every semester since 2018, and was honored as the top Student-Athlete for the Big Red last season.

The ECAC Hockey finance and awards committee, and league staff congratulate Devon on this tremendous honor.

PROVIDENCE, R.I.- Brooke Becker (Orchard Park, N.Y.) of the Providence College women’s ice hockey team was named the Hockey East Pro Ambitions Rookie of the Month for February, as announced by the conference on Tuesday, March 2.

Becker tallied three points in Providence’s victory over Boston University in the Hockey East Quarterfinal game on Sunday, Feb. 28. Becker’s third goal of the season gave the Friars an early lead 2:14 into the opening period, 1-0. She was credited with the secondary assist on Providence’s third goal scored by Hayley Lunny (Bedford, N.Y.) and earned the primary assist on the game winning goal by Caroline Peterson (East Falmouth, Mass.). The Friars went on to win 4-3 on home ice. She now has 14 points on the season with three goals and 11 assists, and is tied for second most points on the team.

Becker had five assists and one goal for six points in the month of February, doing so in three fewer games than anyone else in Hockey East. The freshman defender’s six points were the most of any rookie blueliner in the nation. She recorded two multi-point games in February, and helped the lead Friars in a victory over Boston University in the Hockey East Quarterfinals with one goal and two assists.

(Providence Women’s Hockey Photo)

HAMILTON – First-year Kayle Osborne has been named a finalist for the first Women’s Hockey Goalie of the Year Award.
 
Eight goalies from four Division I conferences have advanced from the “Watch List” which originally featured 21 netminders. Voting for the finalists was carried out by a group of coaches, administrators and media members. The award, which is being presented by the Hockey Commissioner’s Association, looks to annually honor the top female goaltender in NCAA Division I.
 
Osborne is the only member from ECAC Hockey to be a finalist. This season, Osborne boasts an overall record of 11-5-1 and has helped the Raiders to a first-place conference standing. She ranks 12th nationally with a 1.62 GAA and 17th overall with a .930 save percentage.
 
Osborne is one of two first-years to be named a finalist. The Women’s Hockey Goalie of the Year Award will be presented for the first time this year, joining the association’s Rookie of the Year Award that has been presented since 2014.
 
The winner will be announced during the NCAA Frozen Four in March.
 
Finalists for the 2021 Women’s Hockey Goalie of the Year Award
Sandra Abstreiter, Jr., Providence
Kennedy Blair, Sr., Wisconsin
Josie Bothun, Fr., Penn State
Andrea Braendli, Jr., Ohio State
Aerin Frankel, Sr., Northeastern
Kayle Osborne, Fr., Colgate
Loryn Porter, Sr., Maine
Emma Söderberg, Jr., Minnesota Duluth

(Colgate Women’s Hockey Photo)
 

St. Lawrence University sophomore Lucy Morgan was named the MAC Goaltending ECAC Hockey Goalie of the Week, the conference office announced on Monday afternoon.

Morgan posted a pair of wins over Clarkson, stopping 44 of 48 shots for a .917 save percentage and a 1.99 goals against average. The Saints beat Clarkson 4-3 in overtime at Cheel Arena on Friday, then returned home for a 2-1 win over the Golden Knights on Senior Day on Sunday.

This marks the second time this season Morgan has earned Goalie of the Week honors from the league. She also earned recognition two weeks ago on February 15.

The Saints will close out the regular season tonight against Clarkson at Appleton Arena, with the No. 2 seed in the ECAC Hockey tournament on the line. The winner of tonight’s game (or the winner of the shootout in the case of a tie) will earn the No. 2 seed and host the other team in the tournament semifinals on Friday.

(St. Lawrence Women’s Hockey Photo)

ALBANY, N.Y – After a four-point weekend at Quinnipiac, sophomore Danielle Serdachny has been named ECAC Hockey Women’s Player of the Week.
 
Army ROTC Player of the Week: Danielle Serdachny
Adirondack Health Rookie of the Week: Olivia Mobley (Quinnipiac)
MAC Goaltending Goalie of the Week: Lucy Morgan (St. Lawrence)
 
In Friday’s 4-2 win against Quinnipiac, Serdachny recorded an assist on the tying goal in the second period. She then scored the game-winning goal with 2:37 left in the contest to give the Raiders the 3-2 lead.
 
Despite Colgate’s 5-3 loss to the Bobcats on Saturday, Serdachny scored two goals within 1:09 in the final minutes of the game to cut Quinnipiac’s 4-1 lead to 4-3. She finished the weekend with three goals and one assist over two games. She currently has a three-game point streak (3G, 2A) and currently leads the team in points with 20.
 
This is the second time this season Serdachny was named Player of the Week as she also garnered the award Jan. 11. Colgate now has four Player of the Week selections this season.
 
UP NEXT
After clinching the regular season title, the Raiders will host an ECAC Hockey Semifinal against Quinnipiac on Friday with a time yet to be determined.

(Colgate Women’s Hockey Photo)
 

By Aaron Todd <atodd@stlawu.edu> —

Anna Segedi scored two goals off assists from Julia Gosling to lead the St. Lawrence University women’s hockey team to a 2-1 win over ninth-ranked Clarkson in an ECAC Hockey contest at Appleton Arena on Sunday afternoon.

The win, the Saints’ second one-goal victory over the Golden Knights in as many days, has solidified the playoff matchups for the ECAC Hockey semifinals. Colgate has earned the No. 1 seed and will host No. 4 Quinnipiac. St. Lawrence (4-6-0 overall, 4-5-0 ECAC Hockey) and Clarkson (8-8-1, 3-4-0), who will wrap up regular season play with the final game of this three-game series on Monday night at 7 p.m., will play in the other semifinal. The team that claims two or more points, by winning in regulation, in overtime, or by winning the shootout after a tie, will claim the No. 2 seed and host the game.

Following the game, the Saints honored their senior class, celebrating the contributions of Jessica Poirier, Brittney Gout, Skylar Podvey and Charlea Pedersen to the program. St. Lawrence has now won its last five Senior Day games.

“I’m very proud of the team’s effort today,” said St. Lawrence assistant coach Mare MacDougall Bari. “It’s always extra special to get the win on Senior Day. The whole staff is just really proud of the effort from the whole locker room, and I think it says a lot about kids just staying the course.”

While there was no score through the first 40 minutes, St. Lawrence had the better of the play, holding a 20-12 lead in shots on goal. 

Segedi finally got the Saints on the board at the 1:06 mark of the third, just moments before a Clarkson penalty was due to expire. Chloé Puddifant fed Segedi in the high slot from the side of the net, and Segedi fired a wrist shot into the right side for her third goal of the season.

Caitrin Lonergan tied the game for Clarkson less than four minutes later, shoveling a crossing feed from Gabrielle David past St. Lawrence goaltender Lucy Morgan’s left leg pad.

But Segedi put the Saints ahead again halfway through the third, scoring on a rebound after Gosling’s shot from the left circle bounced off Clarkson goaltender Marie Pier-Coulombe’s facemask.

Segedi had a chance for a hat trick, skating in on an open net with less than a minute to play, but was tripped inside the Clarkson blue line on her way to the goal. The Golden Knights were assessed a penalty and were to play shorthanded for the remainder of the game.

Morgan finished the game with 16 saves, while Coulombe stopped 25 shots.

The win marked the Saints’ first two-game winning streak against Clarkson since St. Lawrence beat the Golden Knights in three straight games from February 15, 2011 to January 20, 2012, and was the first two-game sweep on back-to-back days in exactly 12 years.

(St. Lawrence Women’s Hockey Photo)

HAMILTON – For the first time in program history, the Colgate women’s hockey team is the outright ECAC Hockey Regular Season Champion.

The Raiders fashioned a 13-6-1 overall record and were 8-4-0 in ECAC play. One Colgate victory over the weekend at Quinnipiac and a pair of Clarkson losses to St. Lawrence made it official.

The Raiders were presented the regular season trophy this evening by ECAC Hockey Commissioner Steve Hagwell at the Class of 1965 Arena.

“The thing that comes to mind is just how resilient our group has been from the very beginning,” head coach Greg Fargo said. “The year started off with a lot of uncertainty and our team deserves a lot of credit because their focus was only on the things that they could control. We had this mindset that we were going to do everything that we could to be ready when the time came. Thankfully, we’ve done everything that we had to do along the way.”

Besides an opening series against Syracuse, the Raiders have only played Clarkson, Quinnipiac and St. Lawrence throughout the season. Fargo said that playing the same three teams has only made Colgate a stronger program.

“Honestly, it’s been a lot of fun because all four teams in our league are really well coached,” Fargo said. “When you play the same opponent more than twice it feels like more of a playoff series. All of the little changes and adaptations as the series goes on become more and more important and that’ll be true once again this weekend when all the chips are on the table for the championship.” 

The Raiders are averaging 2.80 goals per game and have and have a stellar 1.85 GAA. Seven Colgate players currently have at least 10 points, with sophomore Danielle Serdachny leading the way with 20 (9G, 11A).

Overall on the season, the Raiders have garnered seven ECAC Weekly awards, including a pair of Player of the Week honors by Serdachny (Jan. 11, March 1). Junior Tanner Gates won it Jan. 25 before sophomore Sammy Smigliani was named Player of the Week Feb. 22.

In addition to several Player of the Week awards, first-year Kayle Osborne has been a two-time Goalie of the Week honoree and was named Rookie of the Month in January. She is also a finalist for the first ever Women’s Hockey Goalie of the Year. Another rookie standout, first-year Kalty Kaltounkova was also named the Hockey Coaches Association Rookie of the Month in November.

From senior leadership down to rookie contributions, the efforts behind the title have been monumental.

Colgate’s first title in program history came in 2018-19, but that one was shared with Clarkson. Colgate and Clarkson then advanced all the way to the NCAA championship game, where the Raiders lost an overtime heartbreaker.

Colgate is set to host the conference semifinals this Friday at 5 p.m. against Quinnipiac. With its No. 1 seed, Colgate would also host Sunday’s championship game vs. the winner of Clarkson-St. Lawrence, should the Raiders advance.

“We’ve really seen this group come together a lot over the last two years,” Fargo said. “We were once a young team that has matured over time and grown together. What I like most about this team is the fact that it’s not about one person – it’s about the group and it’s about us doing it together. It’s a real team that that has come together, grown together, and isn’t done yet.”

(Colgate Women’s Hockey Photos)

NEWHA members Long Island and Sacred Heart will vie for the Commissioner’s Cup, a unique championship experience that will reward one of the two remaining teams competing in the league.

A three-game series will be played between LIU and Sacred Heart this week with the winner awarded the championship. In lieu of a formal conference championship due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the series will recognize the two programs that have persevered through a season unlike any other.

The first game is slated to be played on Tuesday, March 2 with the Pioneers hosting LIU at 1 p.m. The second game will be played on Thursday, March 4 at 2 p.m. on Long Island. If necessary, the third and final game of the series will be hosted by LIU at 3 p.m. on Friday, March 5.

“We are excited for the opportunity to play against Sacred Heart for the NEWHA Commissioner’s Cup,” said second-year LIU coach Rob Morgan in a statement. “It is a tremendous way for our student athletes to conclude this unprecedented college season.”

“With this being a different year, and with all of the difficulties that have been associated with it, we are all just very grateful for the ability to be on the ice this year,” added SHU coach Thomas O’Malley. “We look forward to competing for the Commissioner’s Cup.”

The Pioneers began their season in December with the Sharks taking the ice just after the New Year. The squads have met on four occasions with the Sharks claiming victory in three of those fixtures. In postseason play, Sacred Heart won the initial NEWHA postseason title in 2018 with the Sharks claiming victory in 2020, their first season of competition.

ALBANY, N.Y. — The regular-season is in the books, and the 2021 ECAC Hockey women’s championship matchups are set. Four teams will compete in a single elimination tournament this upcoming weekend for the right to represent the league in the NCAA Tournament.

The matchups for next weekend’s semifinal round are as follows. The winning teams will advance to the ECAC Hockey championship game on Sunday, March 7 at the site of the highest remaining seed

No. 4 Quinnipiac (4-5-0) at No. 1 Colgate (8-4-0)

• DATE: Friday, March 5
• TIME: 5 pm
• LOCATION: Hamilton, N.Y.

No. 3 Clarkson (3-6-0) at No. 2 St. Lawrence (5-5-0)

• DATE: Friday, March 5
• TIME: 5 pm
• LOCATION: Canton, N.Y.

All games will be streamed live on ESPN+ (US), and Stretch Internet (International).