Parsons Top-10 Finalist for Patty Kazmaier Award

Photo by Mark Washburn

HANOVER, NH - After leading ECAC Hockey in scoring and earning first team All-Ivy honors, senior co-captain Sarah Parsons (Dover, Mass.) was selected as a top-10 finalist for the 2010 Patty Kazmaier Award, which is given to the top women’s college hockey player in the nation.

The top-10 class of candidates for the 13th annual Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award represents all four women’s college conferences: College Hockey America, ECAC Hockey, the Hockey East Association and the Western Collegiate Hockey Association.

The award selection process began in early February, when NCAA Division I women’s ice hockey coaches were asked to nominate players for the award. Nominated players were then placed on an official ballot, which was sent back to the coaches to vote for the top 10 finalists. The independent accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP, tabulated the ballots.

The three finalists, including the recipient of the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award, are chosen by a 13-member selection committee comprised of NCAA Division I women’s ice hockey coaches, representatives of the print and broadcast media, and a representative of USA Hockey, the National Governing Body for the sport of ice hockey in the United States.

The three finalists for this year’s award will be announced March 9.

Parsons led Dartmouth in all offensive categories with 20 goals and 20 assists for 40 points. She was named first team All-Ivy and ECAC Hockey Second Team last week. She finished the season leading ECAC Hockey with those 40 points and eighth in the nation in points per game (1.43). Currently, Parsons ranks fourth in the nation in assists per game (0.71), seventh in goals per game (0.71) and 13th in goals (20). She ended the year ranked second in ECAC Hockey with 20 assists and fourth in power-play goals (6), while posting 13 multi-point games.

With the award also including academics and character, Parsons has fulfilled these requirements as a past finalist for the ECAC Hockey Student Athlete of the Year award in 2009 and has been involved in many community projects. She is a member of Link-Up, a student-run group that matches incoming freshmen women with female mentors from the senior class on campus.

“Sarah’s stats, year in and year out speak for themselves as to her offensive abilities,” said head coach Mark Hudak, “but that is a small part of what she has done for the team. She has led the team every year in blocked shots, plays both forward and defense on our special teams, and is the first person I always look to on a two-person down situation.”

An award of The USA Hockey Foundation, the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award recognizes the accomplishments of the most outstanding player in NCAA Division I women’s ice hockey each season. Selection criteria includes outstanding individual and team skills, sportsmanship, performance in the clutch, personal character, competitiveness and a love of hockey. Consideration is also given to academic achievement and civic involvement.

“Along with also having played internationally for the U.S. National Team during her first three years,” said Hudak, “Sarah maintained a high GPA in a demanding economics. program, while overloading in a number of terms. She represents the true definition of a student-athlete.”

The Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award is named in honor of the late Patty Kazmaier, who was a four-year varsity letter-winner and All-Ivy League defenseman for Princeton University from 1981-86. An accomplished athlete who helped lead the Tigers to the Ivy League Championship in three consecutive seasons (1981-84), Patty Kazmaier-Sandt died on Feb. 15, 1990, at the age of 28 following a long struggle with a rare blood disease.