University of Minnesota Athletics
Ness Earns WCHA Player of the Week Award
1/6/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Hockey
After earning the Most Valuable Player award from the recent Dodge Holiday Classic, Minnesota freshman defenseman Aaron Ness has been named the Western Collegiate Hockey Association Defensive Player of the Week.
Ness, a Roseau, Minn. native, scored his first career goal with 8:28 left in the third period of the championship game against Northeastern on Saturday to force overtime where Minnesota prevailed 3-2. Ness nearly had his first goal earlier in the game, but settled for an assist when his long shot deflected off the skate of Tony Lucia for a first-period score.
Ness also had an assist in the Gophers’ 6-2 win over Brown on Friday and keyed a solid Minnesota defensive effort. Ness and the Gophers limited the Bears to one shot in each of the first two periods and just 15 shots for the game. He became just the second defenseman to earn tournament MVP honors in the 18-year history of the Dodge Holiday Classic, joining former Gopher Alex Goligoski from 2006-07.
For the season, Ness has one goal and eight assists for nine points while playing in all 18 games. The Gophers are currently 10-3-5 overall and ranked third in the country entering this weekend’s series at North Dakota.
