University of Minnesota Athletics
Gopher Quartet Honored at NCAA Banquet
3/17/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Hockey
March 17, 2016
PORTSMOUTH, N.H. - Hannah Brandt, Dani Cameranesi, and Lee Stecklein were honored as 2016 CCM Hockey Division I Women's Ice Hockey All-Americans and freshman Sarah Potomak was named the National Rookie of the Year, it was announced at the 2016 NCAA Women's Frozen Four banquet this evening.
Potomak, an Aldergrove, British Columbia, native is the first Gopher to earn National Rookie of the Year honors since Cameranesi earned the award in 2014. Potomak was also the WCHA Rookie of the Year and an All-WCHA Third Team honoree for her stellar freshman year as she has led the nation's rookies in scoring the entire season. Potomak enters the NCAA Frozen Four averaging 1.42 points per game, tops among the nation's freshmen and eighth among all players. Potomak took home five WCHA Rookie of the Week awards and two WCHA Rookie of the Month honors during the season as well.
Brandt, Cameranesi and Stecklein are all repeat All-American honorees for the Gophers. Brandt is now a three-time First Team All-American, while Cameranesi and Stecklein each received their second-consecutive Second Team All-American nod this year.
Brandt is the Gophers' fourth three-time All-American honoree, joining Minnesota alumni Natalie Darwitz, Krissy Wendell, and Noora Raty in collecting three awards. The first four-time Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award finalist in program history, Brandt enters Friday's national semifinal game ranked fourth in the nation with a 1.82 points per game average. A four-time All-WCHA honoree, Brandt is Minnesota's career leader in both points and assists along with being the NCAA's active career scoring leader with 283 career points (115 goals, 168 assists).
Cameranesi is enjoying a career-best season as a junior this year with a career-high 68 points on 33 goals and 35 assists. In addition to her second-straight Second Team All-American award, Cameranesi was named a top-10 finalist for the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award and an All-WCHA First Team honoree for the second consecutive season. The 2016 WCHA Scoring Champion, Cameranesi recorded a league-high 53 points (24 goals, 29 assists) in WCHA games. She took home three WCHA Player of the Month awards and two WCHA Player of the Week accolades this season as well.
Stecklein joins Cameranesi as a two-time Second Team All-American. The Roseville, Minn., native also took home her second-straight All-WCHA First Team award this season. A team co-captain alongside Brandt, Stecklein has tied her career high with 27 points (eight goals, 19 assists) as a redshirt junior. The 2014 Olympic silver medalist is among the NCAA's top-10 defensive scorers, averaging 0.71 points per game to rank 10th in the nation.
Defending national champion Minnesota (33-4-1) is making its fifth-straight NCAA Frozen Four appearance this week. The No. 3 seed Gophers face No. 2 seed Wisconsin (35-3-1) in the national semifinal round for the third-straight year with game time set for 6 p.m. CT Friday at the Whittemore Center Arena in Durham, N.H. Top-seeded Boston College (39-0-0) and Clarkson (30-4-5) meet in Friday's first semifinal at 3 p.m. CT, and the semifinal winners meet in the national championship game at 1 p.m. CT Sunday.
2016 First Team All-Americans
Ann-Renee Desbiens, JR, University of Wisconsin
Megan Keller, SO, Boston College
Kelsey Koelzer, JR, Princeton University
Hannah Brandt, SR, University of Minnesota
Alex Carpenter, JR, Boston College
Kendall Coyne, SR, Northeastern University
2016 Second Team All-Americans
Elaine Chuli, SR, University of Connecticut
Courtney Burke, SR, University of Wisconsin
Lee Stecklein, JR, University of Minnesota
Dani Cameranesi, SO, University of Minnesota
Annie Pankowski, SO, University of Wisconsin
Haley Skarupa, SR, Boston College
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