EASTON, Mass. (February 24, 2023)- Five members of the Stonehill College women's ice hockey program have earned New England Women's Hockey Alliance end of the season honors, as announced by the conference earlier today.
Headlining the group of award winners were Alexis Petford, and head coach Tara Watchorn. Petford was named to the NEWHA First Team and All-Rookie Team while also being recognized as the NEWHA Rookie of the Year. Meanwhile, in her head coaching debut, Watchorn was named the NEWHA Coach of the Year.
|
Alexis Petford was one of four NEWHA All-Conference winners (Photo Credit: Mary Gettens). |
Petford has had a strong freshman campaign as she is currnetly tied for the nation lead in goals (25) and leads all freshman in the entire country and the conference in scores. The five-time NEWHA Weekly award winner (Player of the Week-three/Rookie of the Week-two) has had five multi-goal games on the year and scored the program's first hat trick in a 8-3 win at Saint Anselem (Jan. 21). Petford ended the season registering at least one point per game and finished tied for the NEWHA lead with 41. Not only did she lead the team in goals, Petford also led the squad in assists with 15. She posted a career-high two assists twice this year with the first time against Franklin Pierce (Oct. 28) and at Saint Michael's College (Feb. 11). When on the ice, Petford is a conference-best, plus-26. Petford is also currently on the watchlist for the Hockey Commissioners Association (HCA) Rookie of the Year award as she had been a runner-up for the HCA Rookie of the Month three times this year.
|
In her first year, Tara Watchorn was named NEWHA Coach of the Year (Photo Credit: Bob Blanchard). |
In her first year with the Skyhawks, Watchorn led the program to a 17-15-2 record while going 14-9-1 in NEWHA action for 29 points which clinched the three-seed for the NEWHA playoffs. The team opened league play with a bang, winning their first five NEWHA games and outscored their opponents by a 19-5 margin and did not lose in regulation time until the month of November. Watchorn made the Skyhawks into a highly ranked team in multuiple categories such as goals (107-12th) which is ahead of nationally-ranked No. 15 Boston College. In terms of the powerplay, Stonehill is ranked within the top 10 (ninth) in powerplay goals (21) which is ahead of No. 9 Clarkson, No. 11 Vermont, and No. 12 St. Cloud State. The team is tied with No. 4 Minnesota for the nation lead in short-handed goals (nine).
Maeve Carey ended up grabbing a spot on the NEWHA Second Team. Carey finished the regular season with five goals and 10 assists and was one of four Skyhawks to have 10 or more assists. Earlier in the year (Feb. 14), Carey was named NEWHA Rookie of the Week highlighted by her two-assist performance in a 5-1 win at Saint Michael's (Feb.11). On the ice, Carey finished as a plus-14 and twice this year she was a career-high, plus-four. Once came in a 9-0 win versus Saint Michael's, and the other time came against the Purple Knights in her two-assist game. Carey was also part of a defensive unit that ranked 15th in the country that had a penalty kill of .855 which is ahead of the country's No. 1 team, Ohio State.
Joining Petford on the All-Rookie team is defender, Sydney Russell. Russell finished the regular season with one goal and nine assists and was an impressive plus-23. Her plus-23 leads all NEWHA defenders in terms of plus/minus and her nine assists put her in a tie for sixth in the conference. Russell's lone goal came against Dartmouth College (Dec. 30). She has posted multi-assist games twice this year where she handed out two helpers in games agaisnt Sacred Heart University (Jan. 6) and at Franklin Pierce (Jan. 13). Along with Petford, Russell was also named to the HCA's Rookie of the Year Watchlist. Like Carey, Russell was also apart of a solid defensive group that ranked within the top-25 in terms of scoring defense at 21 by allowing just 88 goals (2.59 goals per game) which is ahead of No. 13 Cornell.
Rounding out Stonehill's honorees is forward, Brianna Walkom as she was named to the All-Sportswomanship Team. Walkom netted four goals and handed out nine assists. Walkom scored two of her four goals early on in the year at Saint Anselm College (Nov. 11) and had two stretches during the season where she posted back-to-back assists. Her first time with back-to-back assists was at Long Island University (Nov. 18) and versus RPI (Nov. 25) and the others came against Dartmouth College and Sacred Heart University.
Stonehill begins NEWHA Playoffs with a best of three matchup hosting Post University starting on Friday, February 24 at 5 p.m.
For the latest on Stonehill Athletics, follow the Skyhawks via social media on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Fans can also download the Stonehill Skyhawks "Front Row" mobile app, powered by PrestoSports, on iTunes and the Android Market.
