Colgate Hands Out Annual Awards

HAMILTON, N.Y. -- The Colgate University women’s hockey team held its annual team banquet on Monday, April 13 at Seven Oaks Clubhouse. Head Coach Scott Wiley presented the team’s annual awards and announced captains for the 2009-10 season.

For the third straight season, Sam Hunt (Calgary, Alta.) was honored with the Brad Houston Most Valuable Offensive Player Award. The senior led the team in scoring with a team-best 14 goals and 20 assists for 34 points. She also recorded seven power-play goals. Hunt finished her career as Colgate’s all-time division I scoring leader with 141 points, and was recently named the Top Performer at the 2009 Frozen Four Skills Challenge.

Senior Kiira Dosdall (Fairfield, Conn.) was named the Most Valuable Defensive Player for the third consecutive year. Dosdall led the blueliners in scoring with five goals and 19 assists for 24 points. Dosdall’s 19 assists and 24 points set Colgate defenseman single season records. A key member of the Raiders’ special teams, Dosdall tallied four of her five goals on the power play. She was named second-team all-ECAC Hockey and was a member of the ECAC Hockey all-academic team. Dosdall finished her career with 63 points, second all-time as a defenseman in Colgate’s division I history.

Earning the Most Improved Player Award was defender Amanda Kirwan (Mississauga, Ont.). The freshman played in all 36 contests; scored one goal; chipped in six assists for seven points, and posted a plus-four rating. Highlighting her season was scoring the game winning goal against then-No. 4 ranked St. Lawrence. Kirwan also added two assists in a 5-4 upset win over then-No. 5 ranked New Hampshire. Colgate went 5-0-1 when Kirwan recorded a point, including a perfect 2-0 against ranked teams.

Rookie of the Year honors was presented to goaltender Kimberly Sass (East Amherst, N.Y.). The freshman was named ECAC Hockey Goaltender of the Year, ECAC first-team, and earned a spot on the ECAC All-Rookie team. Sass was also tagged ECAC Rookie of the Week five times over the season and set the Colgate single-season school record with 14 wins. Sass led the ECAC with a .941 save percentage, while ranking sixth with 1.85 goals against average and fourth with a .656 winning percentage. Sass set numerous Colgate records over the course of the season in becoming the first Raider goaltender to earn first-team ECAC honors.

Dosdall, Hunt and senior Elin Brown (Calgary, Alta.) shared the Don Palmateer Award. The Don Palmateer Award is presented by the Center Ice Club to the player(s) whose leadership, inspiration and performance on and off the ice during their career has had the greatest impact on Colgate women’s hockey. All three players were leaders both on the ice and in the locker room. Brown, Dosdall and Hunt acted as team captains 2008-09. Their impact on the team was evident in January when they led the team on a Colgate record eight-game unbeaten streak. During that streak the team went 7-0-1 and upset two teams ranked in the top-five, the three captains combined for 20 points in those eight games, averaging 2.5 points per game.

Senior Laura Jansen (Wilmette, Ill.) took home the Sportsmanship Award, while fellow classmate Elayna Hamashuk (Nepean, Ont.) received the Marian LeFevre Memorial Coach’s Award. Jansen a steady contributor to the Raider blue line played in all 36 games this season and was named to the ECAC Hockey all-academic team for a third straight season. The Marian LeFevre Memorial Award is awarded by the coaching staff to the player who expresses interest, attitude and dedication to the Colgate women’s hockey program. Hamashuk played in four games before a season ending injury sidelined her, but the injury never held her back as she finished the season working with the coaching staff as the team manager.

The 2009-10 season captains selected by coach Wiley are juniors Ali Edell (Mountain Lakes, N.J.), Marissa Dombovy (Webster, N.Y.), and Beth Rotenberg (Toronto, Ont.). All three captains posted career-high point totals this season and look to take the next step in leading their teammates in 2009-10.