Women's Ice Hockey All-Conference Selections Released

Trinity’s Weiss Named Player of the Year

HADLEY, Mass. – Trinity senior forward Kim Weiss (Potomac, Md.) has been honored by the conference coaches as the 2011 NESCAC Player of the Year, it was announced today. The first skater in the 13-year history of the program to record 100 points over a career, Weiss is the second Bantam in as many years to garner the conference's top award after former teammate Isabel Iwachiw became the first-ever Trinity player to do so in 2010.

Weiss' final season in a Bantam sweater has proven to be her best, as she has posted a team-leading and career-high 22 goals (2nd NESCAC) and 30 points (2nd) over 25 games en route to becoming the program's all-time scoring leader with 107 points during her tenure (62-45-107). This year's success on the ice can partially be attributed to the lack of time Weiss has spent in the penalty box, having been whistled for just four penalties, a single-season low for her. During a 2-0 victory over Colby on Feb. 11, Weiss scored both goals, the first of which made her the first Bantam to ever reach the century mark in career points. An All-NESCAC First Team selection in each of the last three years, Weiss heads into this weekend's NESCAC tournament action riding a 10-game point-scoring streak (11-2-13), needing just one more point on Saturday to match her career-long consecutive game point streak of 11 set during the 2009-10 campaign.

Weiss was one of three players on the seven-member First Team to have earned All-Conference in some form every single year they have been in the NESCAC. Joining Weiss in that distinctive club were the Amherst tandem of seniors Courtney Hanlon (Fullerton, Calif.) and Randi Zukas (Glen Head, N.Y.). Hanlon, who earned First Team honors at forward in 2008 and again in 2009, is fourth for the defending NESCAC champion Lord Jeffs in scoring with a team-best 14 goals along with nine assists for 23 points. Five of her 14 goals have come on the Amherst power play, the nation's best man-advantage unit at the moment, while three have served as the game-winner. Zukas, a two-time Second Team selection in her first two seasons before being promoted to the First Team in 2010, is second among league blue-liners and tied for fourth overall in points with 28, half of which have come during her current eight-game scoring streak (1-13-14). Sixteen of her team- and conference-leading 24 assists have occurred on the power play.

The Jeffs had three representatives on the All-NESCAC First Team, more than any other program. Returning from last year's First Team was sophomore defender Geneva Lloyd (Calgary, Alberta). A dynamic two-way player, Lloyd currently leads her squad in scoring for the second-straight winter, amassing 10 goals and 19 assists for 29 points, just two shy of the 31 she recorded as a rookie. Lloyd is first among defenders in scoring, first in power-play points with 20 (6-14-20), and finished the 16-game NESCAC schedule first in points over conference games with nine goals and 13 assists.

Bowdoin forward Kayte Holtz added First Team honors as part of a breakout sophomore season. A threat to score every time she hits the ice, Holtz enters the NESCAC semifinals with the most goals by a skater in six years, tallying 25 times in 25 appearances for the Polar Bears. She also currently paces the league in overall points with 36, accumulating 17 points in conference play. Holtz has had three four-point outings so far this season, twice scoring four goals.

Rounding out the All-NESCAC First Team were a pair of players from the conference's best defensive squad, sophomore Madison Styrbicki (Edina, Minn.) and senior goaltender Alexi Bloom (Highland Park, Ill.). The two are part of a Panther team that has allowed a league-low 1.04 goals per game heading into the final rounds of the NESCAC championship this weekend at their home Kenyon Arena. Styrbicki, a Second Team member a year ago, is fifth in scoring for Middlebury with four goals and 15 assists for 19 points. Bloom stands alone atop the conference in most major statistical categories with career-best figures, owning a 16-3-1 record with nine shutouts, a 1.02 goals against average, and a .950 save percentage.

Rookie of the Year went to Connecticut College forward Courtney Dumont (Lewiston, Maine), the first Camel to ever take home the award. Dumont, who was also chosen as part of the All-Conference Second Team, set the program record for goals in a single season with 18, while her 28 points were the most by a Connecticut College player since the winter of 1999-2000. She finished the year leading all first year players in scoring and fourth among all conference skaters.

Bill Mandigo of Middlebury was chosen by his peers as the NESCAC Coach of the Year for the second time in his career (2004). Now in his 23rd year behind the bench for the Panthers, Mandigo's squad finished atop the conference standings for the first time since 2008 and will be looking to earn their sixth NESCAC title this weekend.