University of Minnesota Athletics
Four Gophers Among Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award Nominees
2/20/2012 12:00:00 AM | Women's Hockey
Feb. 20, 2012
Thirty players are among the list of nominees for the 15th annual Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award, presented by Easton Foundations. An award for The USA Hockey Foundation, the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award is annually bestowed upon the top player in NCAA Division I women's ice hockey.
Four of the 30 nominees are Golden Gophers in junior goaltender Noora Räty, senior forward Jen Schoullis, sophomore forward Amanda Kessel, and junior defenseman Megan Bozek. Räty was named a top-three finalist for the award in 2010, and was a top-10 finalist for the 2011 Patty Kazmaier Award.
Räty ranks fourth in the NCAA in goals against average (1.48), and ranks fifth in save percentage at 93.4 percent. She has seven shutouts this season, and has started in 33 of the Gophers' 34 games this season. She owns the school records for career shutouts with 23 and the record for wins in a season with 26.
Schoullis is the second-leading scorer on the team with 55 points on 22 goals and 33 assists. She ranks 13th in the nation in scoring, and ranks sixth nationally in power play goals with 10. She also has a shorthanded goal this season and ranks 13th nationally in game-winning goals with four this season.
Kessel is Minnesota's leading scorer with 26 goals and 41 assists for 67 points this season. She ranks sixth nationally in scoring, and ranks fourth in assists per game (1.21). Kessel has had three hat tricks this season, and became just the fourth player in program history to pass the 100 career point milestone as a sophomore.
Bozek leads the nation in points by a defenseman with 39 points, six more than her closest competitor. She has 13 goals and 26 assists, and is one of only four defensemen in the nation in double figures for goals this season. She has scored two game-winning goals this season and leads Gopher defensemen in plus/minus rating with a +37.
Held in conjunction with the NCAA Women's Frozen Four, the 2012 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award will be awarded at a brunch ceremony on March 17 at the Greysolon Ballroom in Duluth, Minn.
The list of 30 nominated players includes 21 forwards, five defensemen and four goaltenders hailing from 15 different schools in all four NCAA Division I women's ice hockey leagues.
The 34 NCAA Division I women's ice hockey head coaches will select the top-10 finalists from among the group of 30 nominees, with the announcement taking place on March 1. A 13-member selection committee will choose the three finalists (announced March 8), as well as the award recipient, which will be announced live at the brunch ceremony in Duluth on March 17.
A full list of nominees is available on the USA Hockey website.
