University of Minnesota Athletics
Raty Announced As Patty Kazmaier Nominee
2/21/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Hockey
University of Minnesota sophomore goaltender Noora Räty (Espoo, Finland) has been named a Patty Kazmaier nominee, announced today by USA Hockey. The Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award is given to the top Division I women's hockey player. Räty is one of 26 players in contention for the award, which will be given out annually in conjunction with the 2011 Frozen Four in Erie, Pa. It is the second-straight year Räty has been a Gopher nominee and later named a top-three finalist as a freshman.
The NCAA Division I women's hockey coaches will select the top-10 finalists from among the group of 26 nominees, with the announcement taking place March 3. A 13-member selection committee will choose the three finalists (announced March 10), as well as the award recipient, which will be announced live at the brunch ceremony in Erie on March 19.
All NCAA Division I women's ice hockey head coaches were asked to nominate players for the award. New to the selection process in 2011 is the stipulation that a player had to be nominated by at least two coaches in order for her to make the official nomination list. The list of 26 nominated players includes 17 forwards, five goaltenders and four defensemen hailing from 12 different schools in all four NCAA Division I women's ice hockey leagues. Of the 26 players nominated, eight are from the Western Collegiate Hockey Association. Along with the Gophers’ Räty, also included is Wisconsin’s Meghan Duggan, Brianna Decker and Hilary Knight, Minnesota Duluth’s Haley Irwin and Jocelyne Larocque and North Dakota’s Jocelyne Lamoureux and Monique Lamoureux-Kolls.
Playing in 30 games this season, Räty holds a 1.57 goals against average and a .947 save percentage. With a record of 22-6-2 this season, Räty leads the nation and broke a school record with nine shutouts. In her second season with the Maroon and Gold, Räty ranks third in the country (Cornell split goaltenders and rank first and second overall) in save percentage and sixth overall in GAA. In conference action, Räty has played in 1515:01 minutes, the second-most in the WCHA. A three-time WCHA Defensive Player of the Week, Räty opened up the season with four-straight shutouts against Clarkson (10/1), Wayne State (10/9) and St. Cloud State (10/22-23). She added her ninth of the year against Bemidji State two weeks ago. On Jan. 28, Räty had a career-high night when she stopped 46 shots on goal en route to a 2-2 tie against No. 1 Wisconsin.
Räty and the rest of the Golden Gophers start their second season this weekend, hosting the First round of the WCHA playoffs. Finishing in a second-place tie in the WCHA, Minnesota holds the No. 3 seed and will face Ohio State at Ridder Arena. In a best-of-three series, Friday’s game is at 6 p.m., followed by 5 p.m., Saturday and 4 p.m. Sunday (if needed).
