ROCHESTER, NY - The United Collegiate Hockey Conference is pleased to announce its 2020-21 Men’s All-Conference teams and major award winners. The award winners were selected in a thorough survey of the league’s nine participating head coaches this season.
UCHC Postseason Champion Elmira College led all teams in the conference with eight total All-Conference and All-Rookie selections. Two rookies from their young roster made both the All-Conference and All-Rookie teams. Stevenson ranked second among UCHC members with seven total selections, and had two freshmen double on the All-Conference and All-Rookie teams. Utica was third with four total All-Conference selections.
For the first time in the history of the conference, a player has repeated as the Player of the Year. Utica forward Conor Landrigan had another brilliant season as a senior to earn the honors a second time. He was the league’s Co-Player of the Year in 2020. This season, Landrigan led the conference with 24 points and an average of 2.40 points per game while leading the team to the UCHC regular season title and a spot in the semifinals. His points per game average led the country. He led the UCHC in assists with fifteen, and an average of 1.50 assists per game. He was also second in the conference with an average of 0.90 goals per game. The Utica captain had a point in all but one game this year to continue on a 25 game point streak that he began in the 2019-20 season. He adds on a second straight First Team All-Conference selection in addition to the Player of the Year award. He has been All-Conference or All-Rookie three times in his career, and was also the conference’s inaugural Rookie of the Year in 2018. He is now playing professionally with the ECHL’s Tulsa Oilers.
The UCHC Rookie of the Year for the 2020-21 season is Stevenson freshman forward Mac Lowry. The Mustang newcomer didn’t just shine among his first-year peers, but also made an impression against all players in the league while leading Stevenson to a second place regular season finish. In addition to Rookie of the Year, he was also named a Second Team All-Conference pick and an All-Rookie selection. Lowry tied for the UCHC lead in goal scoring with ten this season in sixteen games played. He was also tied for third in the conference with 17 points and averaged 1.06 points per game. He was nineteenth among all skaters nationally in points, and was seventh in the nation in points per game among rookies.
Stevenson’s Aaron Murray has been selected as the conference’s Defensive Player of the Year for the first time in his career. The senior defenseman was fifth among the league’s defensemen in points with ten points on four goals and six assists. With Murray as an anchor, the Mustangs were second in the conference in scoring defense at 2.06 goals against per game. That stingy defensive play led Stevenson to a second place finish in the regular season, and a runner-up finish in the Conference tournament as they hosted and played in their first conference championship game. He also tacks on a first team All-Conference selection.
The UCHC Goaltender of the Year for 2021 is Elmira senior Chris Janzen. Janzen had an 8-4-1 record this season. He was third in the league with a 2.03 goals against average, and second in the conference with a 93.2 percent save percentage. Janzen posted solid numbers all season long, but was most notable for leading Elmira’s championship run in the UCHC tournament. He recorded a shutout in the team’s first round win against Chatham, and another clean sheet in the title game against Stevenson. His semifinal performance stole the show, as he allowed just one goal and made 62 saves in the UCHC semifinals against Utica. Elmira won that game 2-1 in triple overtime in the fourth longest game in the history of NCAA Division III Men’s Ice Hockey. He backstopped the conference’s third best scoring defense and second best penalty kill.
The UCHC Men’s Coach of the Year this season is Elmira’s Aaron Saul. The head coach of the Soaring Eagles guided his squad to its first UCHC Championship this season, and the eleventh conference tournament championship in the history of the program at Elmira College. Saul achieved an overall record of 10-4-1, and did it with thirteen freshmen on his roster after graduating multiple All-Americans from the season before.
The full list of honorees is below.
United Collegiate Hockey Conference 2021 Major Awards
Player of the Year: Conor Landrigan, Utica
Rookie of the Year: Mac Lowry, Stevenson
Defensive Player of the Year: Aaron Murray, Stevenson
Goaltender of the Year: Chris Janzen, Elmira
Coach of the Year: Aaron Saul, Elmira
First Team All-Conference
Forward: Conor Landrigan, Utica
Forward: Tyler Barrow, Wilkes
Forward: Donald Flynn, Wilkes
Defense: Aaron Murray, Stevenson
Defense: Justin Allen, Utica
Defense: Amedeo Mastrangeli, Elmira
Goaltender: Chris Janzen, Elmira
Second Team All-Conference
Forward: Jamie Bucell, Utica
Forward: Mac Lowry, Stevenson
Forward: Ryan Patrick, Stevenson
Forward: Shawn Kennedy, Elmira
Defense: Blake Colman, Stevenson
Defense: Daniel Dimon, Elmira
Goaltender: Sean Dickson, Utica
UCHC All-Rookie Team
Forward: Mac Lowry, Stevenson
Forward: Shawn Kennedy, Elmira
Forward: Chance Gorman, Elmira
Forward: Ryan Reifler, Elmira
Defense: Blake Colman, Stevenson
Defense: Amedeo Mastrangeli, Elmira
Goaltender: Marko Sturma, Stevenson