College Hockey America
Gordon Stevenson
Assistant Director of Media Relations
Phone: (978) 373-9640
Fax: (978) 373-9642
[email protected]
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, March 6, 2014
CHA Recognizes Regular Season Award Winners
Erie, Pa. -- The College Hockey America Championship Banquet was held on Thursday Evening, March 6, 2014 in Erie, PA. The
banquet included an end-of-season highlight film, and announcement and presentation of All-Conference and Individual Awards.
The CHA Championship will be held Friday and Saturday, March 7-8, at the Mercyhurst Ice Center. On Friday, fourth seed
Syracuse plays top seed Mercyhurst at 4:00, and at 7:30 third seed RIT takes on second seed Robert Morris. The CHA
Championship game is set to take place at 3:00 p.m. on Saturday.
Mercyhurst senior captain Christine Bestland was honored by the league’s coaches as the CHA Player of the Year for the secondstraight season. Robert Morris goaltender Jessica Dodds took home CHA Rookie of the Year honors. Mercyhurst head coach Mike
Sisti was selected Coach of the Year by his peers for the fourth time in his tenure at Mercyhurst.
Bestland is the ninth Laker to earn the Player of the Year award, and the second player in league history to win the award twice,
joining fellow Laker Meghan Agosta, who won the award four times. Dodds is the third Colonial to win Rookie of the Year, joining
teammates Thea Imbrogno and Rebecca Vint, who won the award in back-to-back seasons in 2010-11, and ’11-12. She is also just
the second goaltender to win the award. Lindenwood netminder Nicole Hensley earned the honor last season. As mentioned, the
Coach of the Year honor goes to Sisti for the fourth time. In 2013-14 he captured his 13th league title at the helm of the Mercyhurst
program.
Penn State senior captain Taylor Gross earned the Individual Sportsmanship Award. Mercyhurst junior Shelby Bram was tabbed as
the top defensive forward, and classmate Molly Byrne was honored as the best defenseman.
All of these awards, along with the All-Conference and All-Rookie teams, are selected by the six head coaches in College Hockey
America.
In awards not based on voting, Bestland also brought home her second-consecutive scoring title by racking up the most points during
conference play. RIT’s Ali Binnington earned the regular season goaltending trophy for posting the best numbers, and Penn State
was awarded the Team Sportsmanship honor.
First Team All-Conference
Second Team All-Conference
F Christine Bestland (Mercyhurst) *
F Rebecca Vint (Robert Morris) *
F Emily Janiga (Mercyhurst)
D Nicole Renault (Syracuse)
D Molly Byrne (Mercyhurst)
GK Jessica Dodds (Robert Morris)
* - unanimous decision
F Brittany Howard (Robert Morris)
F Melissa Piacentini (Syracuse)
F Christie Cicero (Mercyhurst)
D Anneline Lauziere (Robert Morris)
D Lindsay Grigg (RIT)
GK Nicole Hensley (Lindenwood)
All-Rookie Team
Rookie of the Year
Jessica Dodds (Robert Morris)
F Brittany Howard (Robert Morris)
F Jessica Sibley (Syracuse)
F Laura Bowman (Penn State)
D Larissa Martyniuk (Syracuse)
D Jillian Skinner (Mercyhurst)
GK Jessica Dodds (Robert Morris) *
* - unanimous decision
Best Defensive Forward
Shelby Bram (Mercyhurst)
Best Defenseman
Molly Byrne (Mercyhurst)
Individual Sportsmanship
Taylor Gross (Penn State)
Player of the Year
Christine Bestland (Mercyhurst)
Coach of the Year
Michael Sisti (Mercyhurst)
Offensive Player of the Year (Scoring Title)
Christine Bestland (Mercyhurst)
Goaltender of the Year
Ali Binnington (RIT)
Team Sportsmanship
Penn State