CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- Senior defenseman Caitlin Cahow and junior forward Sarah Vaillancourt were named to the RBK Hockey/AHCA All-America First Team, the AHCA announced Thursday. Sophomore goaltender Christina Kessler was honored on the second team.

Harvard led all teams with three selections, and the ECAC had the most of any conference with five honorees.

Vaillancourt, one of three finalists for the Patty Kazmaier Award, the highest individual honor in women's college hockey, led the Crimson with 26 goals, 36 assists and 62 points, placing her fifth in the nation with 1.88 points per game. She is also second in assists per contest (1.09), fifth in goals (0.79), tied for second with three short-handed tallies and tied for fourth with seven game-winners. Vaillancourt was a second team All-America selection in 2006-07.

The junior forward led the ECAC in points (40), goals (18) and assists (22), as well as power-play points (20). She was also tied for first with two short-handed goals in league contests. Vaillancourt was selected to the All-Ivy League First Team and was also recognized on the All-ECAC First Team. She was also the unanimous choice as Ivy League Player of the Year.

In only her junior season, Vaillancourt currently stands eighth on Harvard's all-time scoring list with 185 points (81-104), is eighth on the school's goal list and is eighth in career assists. Vaillancourt also played in the 2006 Olympics, earning a gold medal with Canada's national team, and earned the gold medal at the 2007 Women's Four Nation Cup. She was recently named to Team Canada's roster for the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) World Championships held April 4-12 in Harbin, China.

A top 10 finalist for the Patty Kazmaier and team captain of the Crimson, Cahow (15-21-36), an All-ECAC and All-Ivy League First Team selection, is second in the country in points among defenders with 1.09 points per game. She is also second in the nation with 12 power-play tallies. Cahow also anchors the nation's best scoring defense, which allows only 0.91 points per game and registered 14 shutouts, a new Harvard team record. She also succeeded in the classroom, earning ECAC All-Academic honors for the third straight year.

Cahow led ECAC defensemen with 23 points (8-15-23) in 22 games and was tied for first with seven power-play scores. She also ranked third in power-play points (16), tied for third with four game-winners and eighth with 15 assists. The senior defenseman was a 2006 bronze-medalist with Team USA at the Torino Olympics. She is tied with teammate Jenny Brine for 14th on the Crimson all-time scoring list with 112 points (31-81-112).

Cahow was one of two American-born players on the AHCA All-America squads.

Kessler, Harvard's first ECAC Goaltender of the Year, was honored on the All-America Second Team after leading the nation in all major goaltending categories. An All-Ivy and All-ECAC First Team choice, the sophomore paces the nation in winning percentage (30-1-0, .968), goals-against average (0.97) and save percentage (655 of 685, .955). Kessler holds the NCAA Division I single-season shutout record with 12, after blanking Clarkson, 3-0, in the ECAC semifinals March 8. She recorded three consecutive shutouts twice this season (Nov. 16-Nov. 23 and Jan. 5-Jan.11).

In conference action, Kessler surrendered only 16 goals in 20 games (1198 minutes) for a league best 0.80 goals-against average. She also topped the ECAC in save percentage (432 of 448, .964) and winning-percentage (20-0-0, 1.000).

These three players helped lead No. 1 Harvard to the Beanpot, Ivy League, ECAC regular-season and ECAC tournament titles this season. Harvard (32-1-0) became the second team in ECAC women's hockey history to finish the conference regular season and playoffs with a perfect record, as the Crimson went 27-0-0.