ROCHESTER, NY - The United Collegiate Hockey Conference is pleased to announce its 2020-21 women’s All-Conference teams and major award winners. The award winners were selected in a thorough survey of the league’s ten participating head coaches this season.
Elmira College led the way with eight total All-Conference selections, including five on the first team. The Soaring Eagles were undefeated in league play this season en route to their fourth straight UCHC regular season and postseason titles. Utica was second with five selections, while Nazareth had four and Stevenson had three. Manhattanville and Alvernia had two each.
The 2021 UCHC Women’s Player of the Year is Elmira senior forward Jess Adams. Adams led the conference this season with 29 points, 2.07 points per game, and 20 assists. She also tied with teammate Emma Crocker with six power play points this season. Her 29 points were good for second in the nation. Adams surged into the limelight after recording no appearances on the All-Conference or All-Rookie teams in her first three seasons. She was also named a first team All-UCHC selection this year.
The Rookie of the Year award for 2021 went to talented Chatham freshman forward Allison Corser-James. Corser-James led all freshmen in the nation with nineteen points, which ranked her eleventh nationally among all skaters this year. She was fifteenth nationally with 1.46 points per game, and finished fifth in the nation in goal scoring with thirteen tallies. Corser-James was one of just four skaters nationally to average a goal a game this year. Additionally, she tied for the national lead with four short-handed goals, three of which came in a single game for the first short-handed hat trick in Division III women’s ice hockey history. She was also chosen to the All-Rookie team.
The UCHC Defensive Player of the Year award goes to Elmira defender Jenny Heath, who also logs a first team selection. In fourteen games this season, Heath had twelve points on four goals and eight assists. She anchored the nation’s second-ranked scoring defense, holding opponents to an average of just 0.79 goals per game. The team allowed just 11 goals in fourteen games en route to a sweep of UCHC titles this season.
The UCHC Goaltender of the Year is Elizabeth Hanson. Hanson posted an overall record of 12-1-0 and a conference-best goals allowed average of 0.76. She had five shutouts to lead the nation, while her GAA comes in as fourth-best nationally, and tops among netminders to play over 300 minutes this season. She turned away a conference-best 95 percent of opposing shots this year.
The UCHC coaches have elected Co-Coaches of the Year for 2021 after the original vote and a tie-breaker vote came back even. Elmira’s Tim Crowley and Utica’s Dave Clausen are this year’s recipients.
Crowley earns the award after his Elmira team posted a perfect 10-0 record in UCHC play, and a 13-1 record overall. In their fourteen appearances, his team outscored the opposition 93-11. This is Crowley’s first Coach of the Year nod in the UCHC.
Clausen guided an extremely young Utica squad to a 6-7 overall record, and a 4-4 record in UCHC play. The Pioneers played an extraordinarily tough schedule as six of their thirteen games overall came against national powers Elmira, Nazareth, and Connecticut College. Seven of the team’s top eight scorers were freshmen or sophomores. This is the first time Clausen has been named the UCHC Coach of the Year.
The full list of winners is below.
2021 UCHC Women's Ice Hockey Award Winners
Player of the Year: Jess Adams, Elmira
Rookie of the Year: Allison Corser-James, Chatham
Goaltender of the Year: Elizabeth Hanson, Elmira
Defensive Player of the Year: Jenny Heath, Elmira
Co-Coaches of the Year: Dave Clausen, Utica and Tim Crowley, Elmira
First Team All-UCHC
Forward: Jess Adams, Elmira
Forward: Tristen Tolan, Elmira
Forward: Carolyn Whitney, Utica
Defense: Jenny Heath, Elmira
Defense: Bella Hanson, Elmira
Goaltender: Elizabeth Hanson, Elmira
Second Team All-UCHC
Forward: Madison Nichols, Nazareth
Forward: Morgan Miller, Manhattanville
Forward: Trinity Barcless, Stevenson
Defense: Delaney Carle, Nazareth
Defense: Stephanie Kubis, Nazareth
Goaltender: Savannah Gutierrez, Utica
Honorable Mention (Appears on minimum of three coaches' ballots)
Forward: Emma Crocker, Elmira
Forward: Eliza Beaudin, Elmira
Forward: Nikki Kendrick, Stevenson
Defense: Tia Martignetti, Manhattanville
Goaltender: Julia Beaven, Alvernia
All-Rookie Team
Forward: Allison Corser-James, Chatham
Forward: Carly Stefanini, Utica
Forward: Hannah Labbe, Stevenson
Defense: Madi Morton, Elmira
Defense: Ioanna Christou, Alvernia
Defense: Julia Holmes, Nazareth
Defense: Madison Novotny, Utica
Goaltender: Angela Hawthorne, Utica