University of Minnesota Athletics
Brandt, Stecklein to Captain 2015-16 Gophers
5/27/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Hockey
MINNEAPOLIS - The defending national champion Gopher women's hockey team has named its 2015-16 captains, head coach Brad Frost announced. Senior Hannah Brandt and junior Lee Stecklein will serve as captains as Minnesota looks to defend its 2015 NCAA title next season.
"Hannah and Lee are great representatives of what Gopher women's hockey is all about," Frost said. "They fulfill and embody our values of being tough, grateful, disciplined and devoted. Our staff and players respect them and know that they will do an incredible job leading our team."
Stecklein moves into the role of captain after serving as an assistant captain during the 2014-15 season, when she was the first sophomore to wear the 'C' or the 'A' since Bobbi Ross was an assistant captain as a sophomore in 2005-06. Meanwhile, Brandt enters her first season as a captain for the Gophers in 2015-16.
The back-to-back WCHA Player of the Year, Brandt begins her senior season as one of the most decorated players in Gopher women's hockey history. She ranks fifth among all-time Gophers with 221 career points on 90 goals and 131 assists. A two-time AHCA/CCM First Team All-American and three-time All-WCHA First Team honoree, the Vadnais Heights, Minn., native is a three-time finalist for the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award, including being a selected as a top-three finalist each of the last two seasons.
Stecklein served as an assistant captain of the 2014-15 national championship squad and anchored a Gopher blue line that allowed just 1.20 goals against per game while leading the nation among defensive scoring. Stecklein was named an AHCA/CCM Second Team All-American, All-USCHO First Team, and All-WCHA First Team honoree during her sophomore season after missing the 2013-14 season while competing with the U.S. Olympic Team at the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia.
Minnesota opens the 2015-16 season on the road at Penn State Oct. 1-2. The Gophers are 1-0-0 all-time against the Nittany Lions after defeating PSU, 8-0, in the team's 2014-15 season opener at Ridder Arena in the first-ever meeting between the two teams.
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