Kessel Named League's Rookie; Raty/Schelper First Team

The Western Collegiate Hockey Association announced the All-WCHA Team, tonight, at the conference banquet held at TCF Bank Stadium. The Golden Gophers were well-represented in the awards with goaltender Noora Raty and Anne Schleper on the first team, while defenseman Megan Bozek and Amanda Kessel were named third-team honorees. Kessel also walked away with the WCHA Rookie of the Year award, Minnesota’s fifth overall rookie of the year award. The 2010-11 season marks the second-straight year Raty and Schleper have been named on the first team. Bozek also collects her second All-WCHA honor as she was a second team selection last year. Along with the All-WCHA honors, freshman Kelly Terry and Baylee Gillanders was named to the WCHA All-Rookie Team, as well as award winner Kessel.

Kessel played in 32 games, and led the Gopher scoring charge with 16 goals and 29 assists for 45 points. Along with her teammate Kelly Terry, the duo led the WCHA rookie scoring with 34 points in conference action. With 13 multiple-point games, she was a three-time WCHA Rookie of the Week honoree and a WCHA Offensive Player of the Week once. A key member of the Gophers’ power-play units, Kessel has scored 11 points with the extra attacker, which ranks second on the team. In her 32 games played, Kessel had three four-point games, including her first ever collegiate game in the 5-0 win over Clarkson (10/2). In last weekend’s games against Ohio State, Kessel scored three points, including the game-winning goal on Feb. 26 to advance the Gophers into the WCHA FINAL FACEOFF.

Playing in 32 games this season, Noora Raty holds a 1.59 goals against average and a .946 save percentage. With a record of 24-6-2 this season, her wins rank second in this nation, trailing only Mercyhurst’s Hillary Pattenden, who holds a 25-5-0 record. With her two wins against Ohio State last weekend, the Patty Kazamaier finalist tied a school record for wins in a season, set originally by Jody Horak in 2004-05. Her two wins also helped advance the Gophers to the WCHA Championships, this weekend, at Ridder Arena. In her second season with the Maroon and Gold, Räty ranks third in the country in save percentage and sixth overall in GAA. In conference action alone, Räty played in 1515:01 minutes, the second-most in the WCHA, and posted a league-best .943 save percentage. She added her ninth of the year against Bemidji State (2/12) to set a school record for shutouts in a single season.

In her junior season, Anne Schleper has played in all 35 games for the Maroon and Gold this season. Netting eight goals and 20 assists for 28 points, Schleper ranks sixth on the team in scoring and first among defensemen. With seven multiple-point games this season, Schleper has produced 20 of her 28 points on the power play, a team high. She also ranked high in the WCHA in points by a defenseman, tied for first with Minnesota Duluth’s Jocelyne Larocque for 24 points against league opponents. Schleper, also known for her offensive prowess, was named the WCHA Offensive Player of the Week when she tallied six points against St. Cloud State (10/22-23). She set up two power-play goals in the First Round of the WCHA Tournament to help the Gophers advance to the WCHA Final Faceoff.

Megan Bozek ranked second among Gopher defenseman in scoring with six goals and 13 assists for 19 points. Leading the team with the best plus/minus rating of +33, Bozek was seventh overall in team scoring. Of her six goals scored, three were on the power play. She also netted the overtime, game-winning goal against Ohio State (12/12). Bozek finished the regular season strong with four points in three games played and was later named the WCHA Defensive Player of the Week. In the first round of the WCHA Championships, Bozek held a +3 rating and tallied a power-play assist. Holding two multiple-point games this season, Bozek also had a three-game scoring streak twice this season.

Like Kessel, Kelly Terry had an outstanding rookie season, tallying 14 goals and 23 assists for 37 points. Tied for second overall in points, Terry and teammate Kessel were first among rookies in conference scoring. Of her 37 points, 34 came against league foes. With a plus/minus rating of +23, Terry has also had eight multiple-point games this season. On Dec. 4, 2010, Terry set a career-high four points in the 6-2 win over Bemidji State. She and teammate Kessel also combined for the school record in the two fastest goals scored just five seconds apart. Terry set up a power-play goal to aid the Gophers to a win as the team advanced to the WCHA Championships.

Baylee Gillanders was also named to the All-Rookie Team. Playing in all 35 games for the Gophers, Gillanders has tallied six assists this season. As a frosh, Gillanders posted a plus/minus rating of +12, ranking third among defenseman. She held the most points among freshmen defensemen this season. Gillanders had a career-high three-point game in the 6-2 win over Minnesota State (11/20).

Along with their on-ice accomplishments, the Gophers had 10 on the WCHA All-Academic Team. To make the academic team, a student-athlete must be in its second year at the institution, a letterwinner and hold a grade point average of 3.0 or higher. The Gopher recipients were Megan Bozek, Samantha Downey, Sarah Erickson, Alyssa Grogan, Mira Jalosuo, Becky Kortum, Nikki Ludwigson, Jenny Lura, Noora Räty and Anne Schleper.

2010-11 WCHA Award Winners

WCHA Player of the Year: Meghan Duggan, Sr., F, University of Wisconsin (Danvers, MA)

WCHA Outstanding Student-Athlete of the Year: Jocelyne Larocque, Sr., D, University of Minnesota Duluth (Ste Anne, MB)

WCHA Defensive Player of the Year: Jocelyne Larocque, Sr., D, University of Minnesota Duluth (Ste Anne, MB)

WCHA Rookie of the Year: Amanda Kessel, Fr., F, University of Minnesota (Madison, WI)

WCHA Coach of the Year: Mark Johnson, Head Coach, University of Wisconsin

WCHA Scoring Champion: Meghan Duggan, Sr., F, University of Wisconsin (Danvers, MA)

WCHA Goaltending Champion: Kim Martin, Sr., G, University of Minnesota Duluth (Stockholm, Sweden)

All-WCHA First Team

Forward Hilary Knight, Jr., F, University of Wisconsin (Sun Valley, ID) Meghan Duggan, Sr., F, University of Wisconsin (Danvers, MA) Brianna Decker, So., F, University of Wisconsin (Dousman, WI)

Defense Anne Schleper, Jr., D, University of Minnesota (St. Cloud, MN) Jocelyne Larocque, Sr., D, University of Minnesota Duluth (Ste Anne, MB)

Goaltender Noora Raty, So., G, University of Minnesota (Espoo, Finland)

All-WCHA Second Team

Forward Natalie Spooner, Jr., F, Ohio State University (Scarborough, ON) Jocelyne Lamoureux, So., F, University of North Dakota (Grand Forks, ND) Haley Irwin, Jr., F, University of Minnesota Duluth (Thunder Bay, ON)

Defense Monique Lamoureux-Kolls, So., D, University of North Dakota (Grand Forks, ND) Jessica Wong, So., D, University of Minnesota Duluth (Baddeck, NS)

Goaltender Zuzana Tomcikova, Jr., G, Bemidji State University (Bratislava, Slovakia)

All-WCHA Third Team

Forward Elin Holmlov, Sr., F, University of Minnesota Duluth (Knivsta, Sweden) Erin Cody, Sr., F, Bemidji State University (Roseville, MN) Amanda Kessel, Fr., F, University of Minnesota (Madison, WI)

Defense Megan Bozek, So., D, University of Minnesota (Buffalo Grove, IL) Brittany Haverstock, Jr., D, University of Wisconsin (Hammonds Plain, NS)

Goaltender Kim Martin, Sr., G, University of Minnesota Duluth (Stockholm, Sweden)

All-WCHA Rookie Team Forwards Amanda Kessel, Fr., F, University of Minnesota (Madison, WI) Kelly Terry, Fr., F., University of Minnesota (Whitby, ON) Brittany Ammerman, Fr., F, University of Wisconsin (River Vale, NJ)

Defense Baylee Gillanders, Fr., University of Minnesota (Kyle, SK) Kayla Berg, Fr., D, University of North Dakota (Fargo, ND)

Goaltender Alex Rigsby, Fr., G, University of Wisconsin (Delafield, WI)

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