It was a rough year in terms of posts this year for yours truly on the SLU Hockey Blog, given the number of other writing commitments I made, but I still followed the teams quite closely. With that being said, I'll get back on the posting train with my postseason wrap-up and awards.
The Saints had a rough start to the 2015-16 season, dropping their next six games after opening with a tie against Northeastern at Appleton. They, worked their way back towards .500, where they hovered for the continuation of the season. They wound up finishing sixth in the conference and drew a very tough opponent in Princeton.
It was a delightfully entertaining series, which, thanks to the lovely people at the Ivy League Digital Network, I was unable to watch a single second of (I don't have that kind of money lying around). The Saints pulled out the victory in game one before losing a close game two. In a thriller, SLU advanced to the ECAC final four with an overtime win in game three, a game in which Amanda Boulier broke the record for career goals and points by a defender at St. Lawrence.
The Saints season came to an end with a 2-1 loss to host, and eventual champion, Quinnipiac. It was a good season overall for the Saints, as Kennedy Marchment emerged as a legitimate scoring threat, Brooke Webster overcame a slow start to lead the team in points, and despite a goaltending carousel throughout much of the first half, Grace Harrison emerged as the teams starter down the stretch.
However, all good things must come to an end and the adage held true for the 2015-16 edition of St. Lawrence women's hockey. With that said, there is little left to do except present my highly anticipated end-of-season awards.
One must only examine the legacy Boulier leaves to understand how valuable she was. She owns two school records, was a two-year captain and won an ECAC tournament championship. As Chris Wells said before the Saints battled with Quinnipiac in the playoffs, "it might take 10-15 games of next season to really understand what her impact was", but I think it's quite clear: we might not see another player like her at SLU for a while. Most valuable indeed.
The Saints had a rough start to the 2015-16 season, dropping their next six games after opening with a tie against Northeastern at Appleton. They, worked their way back towards .500, where they hovered for the continuation of the season. They wound up finishing sixth in the conference and drew a very tough opponent in Princeton.
It was a delightfully entertaining series, which, thanks to the lovely people at the Ivy League Digital Network, I was unable to watch a single second of (I don't have that kind of money lying around). The Saints pulled out the victory in game one before losing a close game two. In a thriller, SLU advanced to the ECAC final four with an overtime win in game three, a game in which Amanda Boulier broke the record for career goals and points by a defender at St. Lawrence.
The Saints season came to an end with a 2-1 loss to host, and eventual champion, Quinnipiac. It was a good season overall for the Saints, as Kennedy Marchment emerged as a legitimate scoring threat, Brooke Webster overcame a slow start to lead the team in points, and despite a goaltending carousel throughout much of the first half, Grace Harrison emerged as the teams starter down the stretch.
However, all good things must come to an end and the adage held true for the 2015-16 edition of St. Lawrence women's hockey. With that said, there is little left to do except present my highly anticipated end-of-season awards.
Most Valuable Player: Amanda Boulier
Perhaps its a cop-out, but when a player like Boulier comes along and has a season, and career, like she did, it's difficult to not pin her the most valuable player. It seems like she played nearly 40 minutes per game, and I'd be willing to bet my twitter handle that she was at least in the top five for all skater regarding average ice-time per night. She also was second on the team in scoring, impressive as a defender, and anchored a defense that had to adjust to life without Carmen MacDonald, no easy task regardless of how good Sonjia Shelly, Brooke Wolejko and Harrison played.
One must only examine the legacy Boulier leaves to understand how valuable she was. She owns two school records, was a two-year captain and won an ECAC tournament championship. As Chris Wells said before the Saints battled with Quinnipiac in the playoffs, "it might take 10-15 games of next season to really understand what her impact was", but I think it's quite clear: we might not see another player like her at SLU for a while. Most valuable indeed.
Rookie of the Year: Grace Harrison
The Saints had more than one contender for this award, with Kayla Nielsen and Justine Reyes playing important roles in the offense, including Reyes netting the game 3 OT winner against Princeton, and Lydia Grauer starting on offense before slotting in as a mobile defender. However, Harrison's ability to step in and seize a net that was up-for-grabs and run with it warrants this recognition.
She finished with a 7-7-6 record, a 2.14 goals allowed average and a .916 save percentage. More impressive is her 5 shutouts, one of which was a 29 save performance against Princeton in game one of their playoff series. Harrison likely solidified herself as the starter for next season with her performance down the stretch.
Most Underrated Player: Lydia Grauer
I decided to stray a bit from the norm and pick Grauer for one reason: midseason, she was moved back to defense, and though it can't be completely contributed to her, the Saints defense was much better in the second half than it was in the first. Sometimes, all that's needed is a change, and she was part of it, playing very consistently on the second pair. She only had 12 points on the year, but her usage didn't exactly provide her with a chance to put up tons of points.
Perhaps just as important, Grauer did a good job of staying out of the penalty box, recording just 2 PIM's all year, and she thus spent a fair amount of time on the penalty kill. With more ice time, especially on the power play next year, she'll be a player to watch next season as she steps into a bigger role.
Well, that concludes edition three of SLU Hockey Blog's coverage of St. Lawrence women's hockey. Next up is the fourth, and likely final, season in terms of coverage. Stay tuned for the men's end-of-season post, and thanks for following.
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