2007 Women's Ice Hockey All-Conference Teams Announced
Kurtz-Phelan of Middlebury Receives
Player of the Year Honors
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HADLEY, Mass. - Middlebury senior forward Abby
Kurtz-Phelan (Denver, Colo.) has been named the 2007 NESCAC Player
of the Year, as determined by the conference coaches. While playing
in only 18 games so far this season, Kurtz-Phelan is in the midst
of a record-setting year as she helped the Panthers post an
unbeaten 14-0-2 mark in conference play and earn the number-one
seed in the 2007 Women's Ice Hockey Championship. It is the third
year in a row and the fourth time in the last five years that a
Middlebury player has won the league's top award.
Kurtz-Phelan also found a spot on the NESCAC All-Conference First
Team for the first time in her career, as the two-sport athlete
missed the beginning of the 2006-07 campaign while participating in
the NCAA Women's Soccer Tournament. Heading into this weekend's
NESCAC Women's Ice Hockey Championship, Kurtz-Phelan is second in
the conference in overall scoring with 13 goals and 19 assists for
32 points, well above the career numbers she posted last season (29
GP, 13-13-26). The senior forward's 13 goals put her in a three-way
tie for first among her Panther teammates, tallying five power-play
and four game-winning markers, while her 19 assists place her in a
two-way tie for the top spot in the conference. Kurtz-Phelan is
averaging 1.78 points per game through her 18 appearances,
registering two points or more in eight of her last 10 games.
Kurtz-Phelan sits five points shy of 100 for her career at
Middlebury, scoring 42 goals and 53 assists for 95 points through
95 games played.
Along with Kurtz-Phelan from Middlebury is senior defender Shannon
Tarrant (Brookfield, Conn.). It is the fourth year in a row that
Tarrant has earned All-NESCAC recognition, previously receiving
First Team honors in 2004 and 2006 and Second Team recognition in
2005. Tarrant is fourth on her team and first among conference blue
liners this season in overall scoring with eight goals and 17
assists for 25 points over 22 games. Tarrant assisted on three
goals in a game for the first time in her career on Jan. 26 against
Bowdoin, helping out on the game-winner in overtime for a 5-4 win.
She needs only two more points this season to match her personal
best of 27 set during her sophomore campaign.
Three Amherst players found a spot on this year's All-NESCAC First
Team, marking the first time this decade that any Jeff player has
earned First Team recognition and the first time since 2004 for an
Amherst skater to receive conference honors. Sophomore forward
Tarasai Karega (Detroit, Mich.) is joined by a pair of first year
players, defender Kirsten Dier (Appleton, Wis.) and netminder
Krystyn Elek (Summerville, S.C.). Karega sits in a two-way tie for
third in the conference in points with 15 goals and 16 assists for
31 points, 10 points higher than her rookie season last winter. She
also ranks first in game-winners with seven and is in a three-way
tie for first in power-play goals with seven markers. Karega
tallied a hat trick in back to back games in January, scoring three
goals at Wis.-River Falls on Jan. 13 and another three against
Connecticut College on Jan. 17. Her assist against the Camels gave
her a four-point evening, the first of her career with the
Jeffs.
Playing in all 25 games this season, Dier is third among
conference first year players in scoring with five goals, three
coming on the power-play, and 17 assists for 22 points. The rookie
blue liner also sits in a two-way tie for third in points by league
defenders. Patrolling behind Dier in 19 games this season was Elek,
who also earned NESCAC Rookie of the Year honors. Elek ranks among
the top three goaltenders in the conference in goals against
average (1.68; 2nd), save percentage (.934; 3rd) and winning
percentage (.711; 3rd), posting a 12-4-3 record while recording
four shutouts.
After earning Second Team honors last winter, Bowdoin forward
Meghan Gillis (Whycocomagh, Nova Scotia) receives First Team
accolades for the second time in three years (2005) this year.
Gillis, the 2004 NESCAC Rookie of the Year, currently sits atop the
NESCAC scoring list with 15 goals and 19 assists for 34 points
through 24 games, as her 15 tallies put her in a five-way tie for
first place among league players. Gillis has been extremely
effective on the power-play this season for the Polar Bears,
scoring a career-high seven goals with the extra attacker to lead
the NESCAC along with Karega of Amherst. Gillis currently ranks
third at Bowdoin in all-time scoring with 76-78-154 through 104
games.
Amherst fourth-year head coach Jim Plumer was chosen by his
counterparts as the NESCAC Coach of the Year for the first time in
his career. Plumer has guided the Jeffs to their most successful
season in program history with a 17-5-3 overall record and a 10-3-3
showing in league play. Amherst, which is 13-1-3 since the start of
2007, reached this weekend's NESCAC tournament semifinals for the
first time ever.
2006-07 NESCAC Women's Ice Hockey
All-Conference
|
| First Team
| School
| Yr.
| Hometown
|
| F
| Meghan Gillis
| Bowdoin
| Sr.
| Whycocomagh, Nova Scotia
|
| F
| Tarasai Karega
| Amherst
| So.
| Detroit, Mich.
|
| F
| Abby Kurtz-Phelan
| Middlebury
| Sr.
| Denver, Colo.
|
| D
| Kirsten Dier
| Amherst
| Fy.
| Appleton, Wis.
|
| D
| Shannon Tarrant
| Middlebury
| Sr.
| Brookfield, Conn.
|
| G
| Krystyn Elek
| Amherst
| Fy.
| Summerville, S.C.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Second Team
| School
| Yr.
| Hometown
|
| F
| Annmarie Cellino
| Middlebury
| So.
| West Seneca, N.Y.
|
| F
| Michelle Chee
| Trinity
| So.
| San Francisco, Calif.
|
| F
| Shannon Sylvester
| Middlebury
| Sr.
| Randolph, N.J.
|
| D
| Kirsten Cameron
| Bowdoin
| Jr.
| Charlottetown, P.E.I
|
| D
| Kelley McCarthy
| Trinity
| So.
| Kingston, Mass.
|
| G
| Lani Wright
| Middlebury
| Fy.
| Reading, Mass.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Player of the Year
|
|
|
|
| F
| Abby Kurtz-Phelan
| Middlebury
| Sr.
| Denver, Colo.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Rookie of the Year
|
|
|
|
| G
| Krystyn Elek
| Amherst
| Fy.
| Summerville, S.C.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Coach of the Year
|
|
|
|
|
| Jim Plumer
| Amherst
|
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