University of Minnesota Athletics
3/16/2017 12:00:00 AM | Women's Hockey
March 16, 2017
ST. CHARLES, Mo. - Three Golden Gophers were honored at the 2017 NCAA Women's Frozen Four championship reception Thursday evening as junior Kelly Pannek and senior Lee Stecklein were honored as 2017 CCM Hockey Division I Women's Ice Hockey First Team All-Americans and sophomore Anna Barlow received the NCAA Elite 90 Award.
Pannek has earned the first All-American nod of her career in being named a First Team All-American. The Plymouth, Minn., native was also a 2017 All-WCHA First Team honoree and was selected as a 2017 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award top-10 finalist. She enters the NCAA Frozen Four as the nation's scoring leader with 61 points (19g-42a), 1.61 points per game, 42 assists, and 1.11 assists per game. Pannek was the 2017 WCHA Scoring champion with 44 points (14g-30a) in 28 conference games. This season, Pannek became the 32nd Gopher all-time to reach 100 career points.
Meanwhile, Stecklein has earned the third All-American award of her career, being honored as a First Team All-American after taking home second team honors in each of the last two seasons. The Roseville, Minn., native is also a three-time All-WCHA First Team honoree. Stecklein enters the NCAA Women's Frozen Four ranked fourth in scoring among NCAA defensemen with 0.69 points per game. She ranks seventh among all-time Minnesota defensemen with 93 career points (20g-73a).
While Pannek took home her first All-American honor, Stecklein is now one of just five three-time All-American honorees for the Gophers. She joins Krissy Wendell, Natalie Darwitz, Noora Raty, and Hannah Brandt to make up Minnesota's three-time All-Americans. In total, the Gophers have now earned 39 All-American awards in program history.
The CCM Hockey All-American Ice Hockey teams are sponsored by CCM Hockey and chosen by members of the American Hockey Coaches Association (AHCA).
Barlow is the recipient of the Elite 90 award for the 2017 NCAA Division I Women's Ice Hockey Championship. Barlow, who is studying Biology, Society, and Environment in the University of Minnesota's College of Liberal Arts, was presented the award during Thursday's reception. The South St. Paul, Minn., native has been in Minnesota's lineup for five games this season and was also named a WCHA Scholar-Athlete and WCHA All-Academic honoree for 2016-17.
The Elite 90, an award founded by the NCAA, recognizes the true essence of the student-athlete by honoring the individual who has reached the pinnacle of competition at the national championship level in his or her sport, while also achieving the highest academic standard among his or her peers. The Elite 90 is presented to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade-point average participating at the finals site for each of the NCAA's championships.
Eligible student-athletes are sophomores or above who have participated in their sport for at least two years with their school. They must be an active member of the team, traveling and a designated member of the squad size at the championship. All ties are broken by the number of credits completed.
The back-to-back defending national champion Golden Gophers (26-7-5) face No. 2 seed Clarkson (30-4-5) in Friday's second national semifinal game, set for 8 p.m. CT at The Family Arena in St. Charles, Mo. Top-seeded Wisconsin (32-2-4) and No. 4 seed Boston College (28-5-5) meet in Friday's first semifinal at 5 p.m. CT Friday, and the semifinal winners advance to the national championship game at 2 p.m. CT Sunday.
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